No ThaiPBS fake news
Re: "Society falls prey to disinformation", (Opinion, Sept 11).
Pirongrong Ramasoota mentioned that before the Wild Boars boys were located in a Chiang Rai cave, even the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS), Thailand's only public TV channel, misinformed the public with a piece of widely shared news on social media that talked about the US using military satellite imaging technology to help locate the youngsters. A local space authority later denied this.
ThaiPBS would like to clarify the content we presented in the evening news on June 30. We mentioned that the 3D scanning device in question, which was effective in detecting and analysing body heat emitting from living organisms, was involved in the search and rescue efforts, and that, for security reasons, images created by the device would not be publicised.
In our story, we said the device was highly accurate and could be used during both day and night. We said it had been helping US military attacks that required great precision.
The information was sourced from people close to American rescuers working in Chiang Rai.
We concluded that the sources were credible and the device was a genuine option in a hectic and increasingly desperate situation, although questions remained about various factors in the area, such as weather and unique terrain.
We saw pictures of the device, which we promised not to publicise due to security reasons. Instead, our broadcast footage displayed the activities of rescuers, and we tried our best to explain how the device worked.
For the reasons mentioned above, coupled with the facts that all local and foreign rescuers were doing their best with utmost sincerity and willingness to help locate the boys, there was no reason to suspect that the sources were not telling us the truth.
We would also like to mention that throughout the rescue attempts, we were well aware of information shared on social media that needed to be thoroughly checked. Our coverage in question was the work of our reporters in the area, with the only motive being to bring the public truthful and accurate news about the Tham Luang situation.
Limitations that restricted the published content did not mean that we, the editorial team, were working the easy way and overlooked professional standards during the Tham Luang coverage.
Korkhet ChantalertlukNews Director, ThaiPBS
