Mixed Messages: Thailand's Confusing PR Machine [Season 4, Episode 21]

The big news of the day is of course the coronavirus,
something Greg and Ed have talked about frequently on the bonus
show, which goes to our patrons. But on this show, though, the
guys dive right in and address the Thai government's bizarre and
inconsistent public declarations about the virus and the
government's policy towards it. 


Ed does his best to recount the government's statements of
the last few days: first, an apparent mandatory quarantine of all
travelers from nine countries, followed by that statement
disappearing and radio silence from the government. Then, a new
statement indicating an 'optional' quarantine of travelers from
fewer countries, followed by a new statement from TAT apparently
discouraging tourists to travel to Thailand from high-risk
countries.


The boys lament the fact that bad PR by the Thai government
would be laughable in some circumstances, but in the case of
coronavirus it is potentially deadly. At the very least, hundreds
of thousands of tourists - not to mention Thais in the
hospitality and service industries - are affected by Thai
governmental policies, so professionalism and clarity are of
utmost importance.


To wrap things up, Greg and Ed discuss various theories to
explain the government's strange ineptitude at communicating with
the public. Greg introduces a theory that it could be be partly
due to Thai cultural communication styles, while Ed considers a
more mundane explanation: military-bureaucratic
incompetence. 


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