Thai authorities, as last year, are warning that April 1st is strictly off-limits as regards fake news stories in any media. This is essentially because wrong information about Civid-19 could lead to public confusion, or even pose a threat to public order. In Thai, the date is known as Wan Go-hok or Day of Lies.
The Office of the Attorney General warns that anyone spreading false information could face two years in jail and/or a 40,000 baht fine. The Ministry of Health is particularly worried about fake news concerning the availability of vaccines and speaks similarly of stiff penalties. The government’s public relations section goes further and specifies a five years’ incarceration and fines of 100,000 baht under the computer crimes legislation.
The popularity of April fool jokes in Pattaya antedates the popularity of social media and has its origins in the multiplicity of weekly or fortnightly newspapers which proliferated in Pattaya in the late 1990s. An early example was the tale that the last survivor of the Titanic had just died in Jomtien.
The story told a heart-rending tale of a baby hastily bundled into one of the last lifeboats and damaging her arm during the downward drop. The myth, which was reported on the infant internet, caused quite a stir internationally and even led to the Titanic Enthusiasts of America threatening legal action.
All kinds of pressure groups were offended in 2011 when a local newspaper, long defunct, ran a piece that Pattaya hotels had agreed to show positive discrimination by allowing western tourists to take ladyboys back to their room without an extra charge. But those with a proper girl would be subject to the customary joiner fee, a sliding scale depending on the hours actually spent together. The item appeared on British TV, causing offence to the Clean Up British Media pressure group which announced a ban on holidays to Thailand.
More recently, April 1st hoaxes have included the “news” that Thailand would be abandoning driving on the left side of the road within 12 months, thus requiring everyone to take a new driving test to ensure they could cope with roundabouts and one way streets.
Another was the awesome revelation that the British embassy would be reopening its Pattaya office in Sexy Soi 6 for two sensible reasons: the rent was a giveaway and the location would be handy for Brits who needed consular assistance. That’s quite a thought.
Other popular entries have included the story that jet ski operators on Pattaya beach would now be self-policing to guarantee the public a better deal as the boys in uniform were so corrupt and took all the cash. Not to mention the 2016 false offering that expats on retirement visas and extensions of stay would now enjoy lifetime visas without annual renewal but would need to report to the immigration bureau on a daily basis. Amen to that.
