CityNews – An indigenous foundation pleads for media to stop reporting with racial headlines.
Following a report last week about two groups of teens chasing one another on the streets in the early morning, leading to two fatalities, the suspects who were accused of causing the incidence were identified as Tai Yai, leading to widespread attack of the Tai Yai in social media, even including mass deportation and death threats.
On June 20th, Waiying Tongbue, the president of the Wisdom of Ethnic Foundation made a statement concerning the racial language appearing in the news. Waiying pointed out that the suspects in this case have repeatedly been
referred to as Tai Yai, which is stereotyping an indigenous race.
The suspects should be referred by name and title just as any Thai suspect would be, Waiying said. Waiying stated that racial language creates prejudice and hatred towards indigenous races and this statement is to aske media to avoid using such languages.