Trouble on the border
August 1, 1946 continuedLesson by Jon Fernquest
[Introduction|Vocabulary|Article] [Reading Questions|Answers]
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The headline above is from the first issue of the Bangkok Post in 1946.
It's easy to find history in the pages of the Bangkok Post since it's been published every day for 60 years.
The story of writing the first front page is an exciting story.
Alexander Macdonald, one of the founders of the Bangkok Post, tells the story in his biography "My Footloose Newspaper Life" (Post Publishing, 1990).
Stanley Swinton of the Associated Press had just arrived back to Bangkok from a dangerous assignment along the Lao border at Nong Khai in Isan.
Swinton helped Macdonald on the difficult first day of the Bangkok Post by contributing an important piece of investigative journalism.
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):1. What religious ceremony did the Bangkok Post have on the eve of the first issue?
2. What did MacDonald call the first day of the Bangkok Post? Why?
3. What was the difficult job that the editors faced on the first day of the Post?
4. Who saved the day? Why?
5. What was happening along the Lao border near Nong Khai that was newsworthy?
Racing to meet a deadline
On the evening of July 31 monks chanted blessings in Pali for the newly born Bangkok Post.
Macdonald (in picture, on right) called the first day of the Bangkok Post, August 1, 1946, "P-Day", because it sounded like D-Day in World War II and they had a difficult but important task ahead of them. The editors had to fill up the front page with the important news stories of the day.
Macdonald recalls: I paced the press room, trying to round up enough front page stories to make this first edition of the Post a newsy one. Little of note had come in over the wire services, so Page One would be made up entirely of local news.
Suddenly, AP reporter Sam Swinton dashed into the room. He didn't just arrive; that would not be Swinton. He rocketed into the office like Superman dropping in from a nearby planet. Attired in a sweat-blotched khaki, he was a powerfully built young man, popping with energy.
He burst into my office.
Just came in from the Indochina border, and all hell's breaking loose up there. French troops firing on Siamese towns. Saw it myself. How'd you like an eyewitness story?
I took him to Karl's desk, introduced him, and sat him down at Karl's typewriter. "String it out as long as you can, Stan," I told him. "We've got acres of space. You bring manna from Indochina."
He attacked the machine, typing as fast as he talked. Page after page unreeled, telling of a raid by French troops on the town of Tha Boh, on Thailand's side of the Mekong. He had spent three days there, interviewing victims and officials, inspecting the damage. No other newsman had been there.
Stanley Swinton's career in journalism
Stanley Swinton was only 27 at the time he wrote this story. During World War II Swinton had served as a war correspondent and after the war he joined the Associated Press as a foreign correspondent.In 1960, only 14 years after he wrote this article for the first issue of the Bangkok Post, Stanley Swinton was appointed vice president and the first director of World Services at the Associated Press.
In the early 1970s Swinton did two important interviews with Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the Phillipines from 1965 to 1989 before Corazon Aquino overthrew him with democratic "People's Power" street protests in 1989.
In 1981, Swinton was a signatory to the Declaration of Talloires an important document in the fight for Freedom of the Press and after his death in 1982 a prestigious scholarship was set up in his name at the Columbia School of journalism
Article
Foreign Correspondent Bares Border Truth
AP Man Finds Death, Torture Along Mekong
Guns Still Popping Near Nong Khai, He Reports
The
Post Publishing Co. Ltd has been granted permission by the Associated
Press to use an article written by Stanley Swinton, first foreign
correspondent to visit
the disputed border area along the Mekhong. Following is the story of
what he found two weeks ago at Nong Khai and Tha Bo. AP prohibits
reproduction of this article by other newspapers. By Stan Swinton
In the remote border towns of Nong Khai and Tha Bo July 17, 18, and 19 I saw at first hand the true situation in this tense area where the interests of two nations dangerously conflict.
To obtain my information, I flew from Bangkok to Udorn, drove by motorcar to Nong Khai and then sailed the Mekong to Tha Bo. I did not go to officials of either side to get my information. I got it form talking myself to scores of people -- not only Siamese, but Annamese, Laos, Chinese and British. And the things that they described I could usually confirm with my own eyes.
One controversial thing I did clarify on my trip: Siamese charge that they are often subject to gunfire from the French Indo-China side. French deny the charge. I found that there is gunfire. On the night before my arrival in Nong Khai, the town had been the target of gunfire from the Indo-China side of the Mekong. Major Vider Weymess, British observation officer, confirmed...Two days previously a neighboring village had been fired upon.
Approximately 14,000 Annamites, some Lacs and Chinese have evacuated to Siamese territory...
Vocabulary
foreign correspondent - a journalist who covers stories first-hand from foreign countries where they happen.footloose - free to do what you want and go where you want because you have no responsibilities or committments
the Associated Press (AP) - one of the most important news agencies of journalists that supply news reports to newspapers
investigative journalism - when journalists do research to determine why something happened ot is the way it is
chanted in Pali - traditional chanting of Buddhist monks on special occasions like house-warming ceremonies or funerals
a pun - an attempt to be funny by deliberately confusing two words that sound the same (See Wikipedia)
D-Day - D-Day took place on June, 1944, the day Allied forces invaded Nazi Germany during World War II
P-Day - this is a pun, P-Day sounds like D-Day which means the beginning of a military operation
paced the press room - walked back and forth nervously while thinking (like Napoleon)
round up - collect, gather
newsy - newsworthy, important information that people need and want to know about
wire services - news agencies like Reuters, AP, UPI, and Xinhua, an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade
attired in - dressed in
blotched - with large stains
khaki - a greenish brown fabric often used for military clothing (See Wikipedia)
Indochina - French Indochina, this includes Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the countries that France once held as colonies (this word was used before World War II when there were colonies in Southeast Asia, it isn't used anymore)
all hell's breaking loose - the fighting is getting more and more violent
Siamese - Thai (Siam was name for Thailand before World War II)
Thai people, Siam was name for Thailand before World War II
an eyewitness story - story seen by the person writing about it
typewriter - machine used to write with (before computers and printers existed)
acres of space - a lot of free space (the front page needs to be filled with newsworthy articles, an acre is a measure of land like the Thai "rai")
manna dropping from heaven - a nice thing that you get suddenly and unexpectedly (manna is a food produced by a miracle in the desert for the Israelites in the bible)
unreeled - paper coming off of a reel (as the typist types on the paper)
war correspondent - a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war zone (See Wikipedia)
motorcar - old-fashioned word for "car"
scores of - many
Annamese - from northern Vietnam
confirm with my own eyes - check the truth of what someone says is happening by seeing it yourself
clarify - verify, confirm, check the truth of
charge that - say in a way that accuses somone of doing something bad
Lacs - hilltribe in Vietnam
evacuated - leave, flee, or run away from a dangerous area
Answer Key:
1. What religious ceremony did the Bangkok Post have on the eve of the first issue?They had Buddhist monks chanting blessings in Pali.
2. What did MacDonald call the first day of the Bangkok Post? Why?
He called it "P-Day" because World War II had just ended and the most important event of World War II was D-Day, the day the United States and the allied forces invaded Nazi Germany.
3. What was the difficult job that the editors faced on the first day of the Post?
They had to fill up the front page with the important news stories of the day.
At first, it looked like the front page was only going to have local news.
4. Who saved the day? Why?
Stanley Swinton of the Associated Press who had just arrived back from the Lao border brought an important story.
5. What was happening along the Lao border near Nong Khai that was newsworthy?
French troops were firing on Thai towns.
This is a good opportunity for a little research. If you have access to a good library you can find out why French troops were firing on Thai towns.
The news for only one day does not give you the whole story. You have to follow the news over a long period of time and read history books to get the whole story.