Parties go into battle on the Net
The current political turmoil is the hottest issue in Thai society, which is perhaps why in an effort to offer news and views not covered by the national press, the main political parties have renovated their websites.
On Friday it was the turn of the Democrat Party to give a facelift to its website (www.democrat.or.th). Launched with the banner headline, "Restore democracy, stop the Thaksin system", it went on to detail real-time articles on a Web board entitled the "people's voice". There are also links to related websites, including one run by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is staging a daily rally against caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The website also explains why the party had not put forward candidates for the April 2 election. Its webmaster said the party had evaluated what people wanted and channelled the site's topics to cover their interests. The website's staff updates its content every 24 hours. "Our breaking news comes from other sites such as Krungthep Turakij newspaper and the INN news agency," the webmaster said. However, its staff selects what to put on the site. "Although current news might be against the ruling party," added the webmaster, "we try to present a balanced view in an effort to persuade other parties to do the same." Thai Rak Thai has also launched a renovated website (www.thairakthai.or.th). It opens with the prime minister's speech on March 3 at Sanam Luang. This is followed by His Majesty the King's address following the bloody political turbulence of May 1992. In contrast to the Democrat Party's site, Thai Rak Thai continues to campaign with a party slogan, "Clinging to democracy, abiding by the rules, going ahead with political reform". It also reports only news of and from the government. A recent offering on the site were two ring tones to counter the opposition's "Thaksin, get out!" tone. A Thai Rak Thai spokesperson said the party wanted to follow the political situation, while also giving party details to its audience. That is because, she said, most of the press had not reported news from the ruling party. Popular portal websites like Sanook.com and Kapook.com, which normally focus on entertainment and are popular among youngsters, have started reporting current affairs on their homepages and paying closer attention to political news.
Sucheera Pinijparakarn The Nation
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