From our global reporters

Having left Guru magazine, the Bangkok Post's Arglit Boonyai is creating a place for himself in the new media online. Our student reporters, Sam and Jessy, get the details.

No, Arglit hasn't developed an American accent. That's me, Terry, on the audio.

Click button to listen to Arglit and rightclick to download

Arglit Boonyai, changing with the times

The news business is changing rapidly and that suits Ben (Arglit Boonyai) just fine.  He is creating a place for himself in the new media, the online space that combines traditional newspaper text with digital photos, audio and video.

He is also making a change in the type of content he covers, moving from the light entertainment of Guru magazine to “proper” news – the hard news and opinion of the Bangkok Post itself.

We had the opportunity to talk to him about the reasons for his move and how things have been working out.

Jessy:  We heard that you moved from Guru to the Bangkok Post?

Ben: I was working at Guru, which is part of the Bangkok Post. Guru, of course, is a weekly supplement that comes out on Friday. I was doing that, which is more of a nightlife entertainment magazine and then I moved to the Bangkok Post main paper.

Jessy: What was the reason you moved?

Ben: I had been at Guru for almost five years and I was feeling like I was getting a bit old to be producing some of the content that Guru offers. I thought that at some point I needed to do something different but stay within journalism, so I went to “proper” news.

Yingluck appeared to be alone, but off camera she had a group of media helpers to keep the interview on script.

Sam: What are your main responsibilities as editor of the multimedia section? What do you do?

Ben: Currently, as you have probably noticed, there has been quite a big push within the newspaper industry to get out of just doing print, and to do the same stories across multiple platforms. The main task of the multimedia department of the Bangkok Post is to take the content that we do in the newspaper and somehow adapt it for video, graphics, and photo galleries. Then we have to package it together with the paper so that we not only get our print audience, but we also have the online audience, that consists of not only people that live in Bangkok that can buy the paper but also people overseas, people who want to learn a bit more about Thailand, and about Thai news.

Jessy: You have interviewed Chuwit Kamolwisit and Yingluck Shinawatra. How was that experience for you?

Ben: It was interesting. With Yingluck, it was very controlled; she has her people around her and they guide everything that is being said, and everything that is being done. You can’t really go off script. If you do, they tell you to stop. It was fascinating to see how the media machine works. Notes got passed to my boss, saying “Stop the interview now” and “Don’t ask that question.”

On the other hand, Chuwit is very much his own man. He says what he thinks. He’s terrifying [laughs]. I had to ask him if he was still involved in corruption. The whole time before that, he

had been sitting there smiling, and I said “So, are you still corrupt?” and he frowned. I thought he was going to hit me, because he had beaten up a journalist once before on live Thai television. So he’s obviously not really worried about that kind of thing.

They were both interesting, but interviewing politicians is the same for any politician. I would say that that is not the most exciting part of the job.

Sam: What would you say would be your most interesting interview?

Ben: The most fun one was my first interview with Prime Minister Abhisit because that was not really a politically-based interview; it was more of a personal thing with really dumb questions that he tried his best to answer in a serious way. So, that was quite fun. You can find that on the Bangkok Post website if you want to look at what I’m talking about.

Jessy: Do you find any challenges when doing your job?

Ben: The biggest challenge for journalists in Thailand as opposed to anywhere else in the world, where they have a large media organization, is that finding news is extremely difficult. You might see news on CNN or in The Washington Post, and politicians have been exposed to issues involving taxpayers’ money which is extremely important because a journalist can go to whatever ministry that keeps the records of the politicians’ financial activities. In Thailand, there are no records; there are only press releases. The only way to know about news is when people are telling you. So being an investigative journalist is a huge challenge unless you are very embedded with your sources, and if you are not terrified of getting shot.



Chuwit: http://bit.ly/kmgygp
Yingluck: http://bit.ly/kSjevt
Abhisit: http://bit.ly/ke5lvf

You can see all the interviews mentioned in the story here on the web:

rapidly – happening quickly อย่างรวดเร็ว
suit – to be right or good for somebody/something   เหมาะกับ
media – radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
hard news – serious news, i.e., not mainly for entertainment
supplement – an extra separate section, often in the form of a magazine, that is sold with a newspaper บทแทรก,ภาคผนวก
journalism – the activity of reporting the news for a newspaper, magazine, radio programme or television programme  วารสารและสื่อมวลชน
responsibility – a duty ความรับผิดชอบ, ความรับผิดชอบ
multiple – many มากมาย
platform – a type of media or way of distributing information , e.g., newspapers, magazines, video, etc.
adapt – to change to suit different conditions or uses ทำให้เข้ากับ, ปรับตัว
gallery – a place for showing works of art, photos, etc.
consist – to be made of or formed from something ประกอบด้วย
overseas – connected with foreign countries, especially those separated from your country by the sea or ocean เกี่ยวกับต่างประเทศ, ข้ามทะเล
script – a detailed plan for a movie, play or in this case an interview (and therefore not natural) บท
fascinating – extremely interesting น่าหลงใหล, มีเสน่ห์
terrifying – extremely frightening; causing great fear น่าสะพรึงกลัว
frown – to make a serious, angry or worried expression by bringing your eyebrows closer together so that lines appear on your forehead ทำหน้านิ่วคิ้วlive – happening now, i.e., not recorded earlier ถ่ายทอดสด
obviously – clearly เห็นได้ชัด, อย่างชัดแจ้ง
dumb – stupid โง่
challenge – something that needs a lot of skill, energy, and determination to deal with or achieve สิ่งที่ท้าทาย, การท้าทาย
exposed – made known; uncovered เปิดเย
issue – a subject that people discuss or argue about ประเด็น
financial – involving money เกี่ยวกับเงิน, ทางการเงิน
press release – a public statement given to the press to publish if they wish ข้อมูลที่เตรียมทำเป็นข่าว
investigative – involving the process of trying to find out all the details or facts about something in order to discover who or what caused it or how it happened เกี่ยวกับการสืบสวน, เกี่ยวกับการตรวจสอบหาความจริง
embedded – having a close trusted relationship
source – someone who gives information แหล่งข่าว
terrified – very frightened ตกใจ, ใจหาย, ขวัญหนี

Related search: Arglit Boonyai, mulitmedia, Bangkok Post