The Thai Foreign Ministry & Public Communication During COVID-19 [Season 4, Episode 34]

Greg interviews Khun Natapanu Nopakun, the Deputy
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. You've probably seen him on TV - he's the
guy who gives English language updates of what's going on with
the Thai government, and especially the coronavirus
situation. 


Khun Natapanu begins by explaining exactly what his job is
- giving info on foreign affairs to both foreigners and Thais in
English. Interestingly, his job is not just to interpret or
translate the normal Thai public affairs information into
English, but to select and in some cases add information that is
more relevant to foreigners. In short, Khun Natapanu crafts Thai
government news to better fit a foreign audience. Simply put,
there's stuff foreigners need to know that Thais don't, and vice
versa. 


While we've long held the belief that expats in Thailand
really SHOULD speak Thai, we really appreciate any English
language info we can get, so it's good news that Khun Natapanu
explains that this is actually very much on the roadmap of the
Thai government - not just for expats in Thailand but also for
the global community in general. 


We also get some insight into how the MFA and other
government agencies are structured, the daily schedule Khun
Natapanu and his team must stick to, and even if he's ever had
any pressure to alter or censor his briefings (spoiler alert:
nope).


Learn more about Covid in Thailand on Thai
PBS, or watch Khun Natapanu's briefings on Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday on the MFA Facebook
page. 


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