FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Erase Stephff and you lose cartoons enjoyed daily all around the world

Erase Stephff and you lose cartoons enjoyed daily all around the world

I am worried at rumours that The Nation is releasing its farang staff, in particular Stephff. 

I have to say that Stephff’s cartoons and the quality ensured by farang editorial staff are the MAIN reasons that I and many of my friends (Thai and farang) enjoy your publication. Without these, you will lose valuable perspective and wider reach, and fall into the darkness of just being another copycat news rag. I hope you realise that this action you are taking, for whatever reasons, needs to be completely rethought and replanned. 
Steve
Long-term reader living in Bangkok
With the utmost regret I learned your newspaper is considering dispensing with the services of Stephane Peray, whose cartoons are a daily joy, a graphic rendering of what cannot be expressed in words alone. He draws what’s on many people’s minds, offering a refreshing take on the goings-on in the world in general and in Thailand in particular. 
His art pokes bleeding wounds, stirs pots most chefs won’t touch, and shouts from rooftops – a daily alarm clock urging us all to wake up.
I am not the only one hoping you reconsider.
We need the French Don Quixote, tilting at Thailand’s windmills!
Pieter
I write to ask that you keep your excellent cartoonist, Stephane Peray. His drawings, I know, are appreciated by many for their unique flair and sharp look at the news. Let him go and you will be losing a person of great talent. He is a cartoonist of international renown, recognised by peers such as the renowned Patrick Chappatte in Switzerland.
Aly
Canada
It is very sad to hear that Stephff’s cartoons will no longer be part of The Nation. They are incisive, ironical and provocative, an absolute must for the paper and the readers, be they Thai or foreign.
He has become an institution, he will leave a big blank behind. I hope Stephff will be able to carry on provoking and stimulating us!
Colette Whittaker
I understand that The Nation has plans to lay off Stephff. 
To quote a review I wrote some years ago about his cartoon output:
“Stephff’s works are freighted with fantasy, and given his genuine concern for human rights, his insistence on upholding liberal values, and his topical views of domestic and international events, the result is a truly unique and heady mix.”
I would ask you to please seriously reconsider this decision, which would in my view – a view that I’m sure is shared by most other readers of The Nation – be a tremendous loss to your newspaper and the political health of Thailand.
Deryck Whittaker
Editor’s note: Hundreds of readers over the past few days have written to express concern over Stephff’s future with The Nation. At time of publication, that future remains uncertain. 

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