The Nation (Thailand)

The Nation

The front page of The Nation on June 10, 2006, covering King Bhumibol Adulyadej's appearance and speech during Celebrations for 60th Anniversary of His Majesty's Accession to the Throne.
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Nation Multimedia Group
Publisher	Suthichai Yoon, group editor in chief Thepchai Yong, group editor Pana Janviroj, NMG News Co. Ltd.
Editor	Tulsathit Taptim, editor Thanong Khanthong, managing editor
Founded	July 1, 1971
Political alignment	Conservative
Language	English
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
Official website	www.nationmultimedia.com

The Nation is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper founded in 1971 and published in Bangkok, Thailand, and is owned by the Nation Multimedia Group.

The Nation is a member of the Asia News Network. It is one of two English-language dailies in Bangkok, the other being the Bangkok Post.

History

The Nation was founded by journalists in 1971 as The Voice of the Nation. The name was eventually shortened to "The Nation."

The paper changed considerably in 1991, when several Thai journalists from the Bangkok Post defected to The Nation.

In 2008, The Nation laid off substantial numbers of staff and under the new editorship of former business editor Thanong Khanthong recast itself as a business newspaper, moving international wire copy to a free tabloid insert, the Daily Xpress.^[1]

Editorial line

The Nation and the Bangkok Post are similar in their coverage of international news and address mainly the Thai upper and upper-middle classes who've gained access to English language education (often international education). The Nation tends to be somewhat more favourable of pro-royalist and pro-elitist governments in its editorials and is a bit more nationalist than the Post in its daily reportage, which often has a more "mainstream" or Western perspective. Though again it must be stressed the majority target audience of both publications are Thais who can read English - with "farangs" a minority, and some would therefore say the latter are an insignificant (paying) readership from the perspective of the editors' and owners' perspectives.

After Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, several companies associated with him ceased to advertise in The Nation. The newspaper reported on the advertising cuts and adopted a vehemently anti-Thaksin editorial line.^[2] It strongly supported the campaign of People's Alliance for Democracy against Thaksin in 2006.

Satirical Reaction

In December 2007 an unknown person started a satirical website called Not The Nation, a send-up of The Nation's website and coverage of Thai affairs. For a while the website was non-functioning, for unknown reasons. It's pages feature an image of Abhisit with the quotation: "A perfectly legal site. but we're working on that" and another of Thaksin with the legend, "didn't I sue them out of existence in 2004?"^[3]

See also

	Thailand portal
	Journalism portal

• Media of Thailand

References

1. ^ "The Nation creates history". Feb.27, 2008. 
2. ^ The Asia Sentinal, Gunpoint Democracy, 27 October 2006
3. ^ Anonymous (September 28, 2011). "About". Not The Nation. http://notthenation.com/about/. Retrieved September 28, 2011. "Not The Nation is for entertainment purposes only. Redistribution of Not The Nation content with attribution is permitted. Some photos and images used on Not The Nation are taken from the Internet. If one of them is yours, we apologize and are grateful. The author(s) of Not The Nation choose(s) to remain anonymous." 

External links

• Official website - allows free access to some articles, though the search is Google-based and does not appear to encompass the entire archive.
• Comparison of The Nation and The Bangkok Post
• Thailand Media overview
• Not The Nation Website