Charn Issara chief as protester - and media critic

Srivara has long been a regular at political rallies, just never in the spotlight. This time, though, she was the bright beacon for others, mobilising people on the social media and leading them in procession from a speaker truck.
“Are you a protest leader?” she’s duly asked. Srivara wouldn’t call herself that because she doesn’t put sacrifice as much as the recognised leaders. “I’d just call myself a pioneer for the Petchaburi community in rallying against the Thaksin regime,” Srivara says, referring to the neighbourhood where her business is based, in the Issara Building.
As to the surprise her presence on the front line caused, she too was surprised to see so many people joining her on the street. She’d only just put the word out the day before the march. She had a meeting with friends and staff and then distributed leaflets before going home. “The social media played a major role,” she acknowledges.
Srivara says her political stance results from careful study of the issues and never any hearsay claims. “I have my primary sources and I always cross-check the information.” Her judgement matches the slogan of fellow protester Soda boutique – “Now or never”. The Thaksin era must end.
Her involvement has left her open to criticism, and some of it has been distorted. Srivara gave a long interview to a Reuters reporter during the march in the hope, she said, of countering misinformation that Thaksin’s lobbyists feed the foreign media. “But, sad to say, the reporter twisted my words and wrote that the march was an extension of Charn Issara’s corporate-responsibility programme!”
The same reporter interviewed Chitpas “Tant” Kridakorn, Petch Osathanugrah and her daughter-in-law Palawi, Srivara says, and came up with a story about class warfare. The headline was “High society hits the streets as prominent Thais join protests”. Srivara had told the |newshound that the protesters came from all walks of life – she’d personally surveyed many of them to find out where they came from and how they earned a living.
“I was impressed with one group from upcountry – they’d shared the transportation costs to join the rally.” She found that Chiang Mai people were quite proud to declare where they were from. “They said the majority there is against Thaksin but they dare not voice their opposition because the red shirts are quite aggressive.” Srivara told the Reuters reporter that many businesspeople similarly dislike the government but dare not say so for fear of official blowback.
She says the reporter was aware of vote-buying and high-placed persons influencing elections in the rural areas. She asked him whether he called that democracy? None of this made it into the published story. “As media ethics go, reporters shouldn’t be biased or take any side, but I’ve found that the newspapers and TV fail to report the news impartially.”
The only way to get the full picture is to talk to a lot of different sources, Srivara says. If you limit your investigation to just one or two sources, you’re bound to get a distorted view of the facts.