TWO journalists at Phuketwan have shared the accolade of Scoop of the Year for 2009 . . . in Hong Kong.
The award went to the South China Morning Post coverage of the ''pushbacks'' in Thailand of Rohingya boatpeople.
Phuketwan journalists Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian revealed the secret island where the boatpeople were being held, north of Phuket, then worked with Greg Torode, Maseeh Rahman and Ian Young to crack a story that was at first strongly denied in the Thai media by various officials in government and in the military.
The South China Morning Post coverage won the top award, Scoop of the Year, across the Hong Kong News Awards 2009 in both English and Chinese media, seeing off stiff competition that included an exclusive revealing the attempted assassination of Hong Kong's most prominent politician, Martin Lee.
Phuketwan editor Alan Morison said: ''It's not very often that journalists outside the big cities win significant awards, let alone in a different country.
''It was actually the scoop of the year in Thailand, too. We broke the story first in Phuketwan, which is a Thai news outlet.
''But we would have been frustrated if we had tried to have it published in print here. Sadly, most of Thailand's media is self-obsessed and has lost its way.''
Morison said Phuketwan will continue to press for an end to all forms of corruption on Phuket. ''Our aim is to make Phuket a better place for everyone,'' Morison added.
''We plan to keep building on our reputation as the news outlet everyone goes to first.''
Coincidentally, more boatpeople have reportedly been spotted, this time not far off Phuket, in the past couple of days.
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CommentsAdd your comment using the form below. Congratulations, Alan and Khun Chutima! Posted by Sylvie Yaffe on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 13:05 Bravo Bravo. Very well deserved indeed. Well done. Posted by Graham on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 14:10 Hearty congratulations to Alan and Chutima for a job well done. Phuketwan is without doubt the best news outlet on the island, and now it's an official 'award-winning' news agency. I hope your editor shouts all the staff to a good night out at one of Phuket's most expensive restaurants. Posted by Toby on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 14:19 What? But I thought this was just a "local blog". ;p Congratulations. Posted by Lost Boy on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 15:07 Kudos to the Phuketwan team! It has been a pleasure to accompany the growth of this online news source and to gain insight through your incisive reporting. Posted by Marcia Fisk Ong on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 15:21 Well deserved. Posted by Duncan on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 15:41 Big congrats to the both of you. Posted by Lana on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 16:08 Congratulations, great story. Posted by James on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 16:59 Congratulations. Hopefully you still like to report the little stories. :) Posted by Lena on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 17:02 How odd; I was convinced that the Phuket Post was going to get an award this year... Posted by Sandy Lane on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 20:23 Congratulations! Posted by Sean on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 20:29 Thank you all for the nice comments :) Posted by Oi on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 21:43 Congrats! Posted by Anonymous on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 23:27 Congratulations, a story that needed to be told. Posted by Josh on Friday March 12, 2010 at 05:54 Congrats!!! Sometimes I am amazed at what you publish on this site. Being locals and seeing how bad the system can be, and what some will do to silence people, it is amazing your team has the stomach to take the system head on.... Posted by chris on Friday March 12, 2010 at 11:13 Well deserved. Well done phuketwan! Posted by Kristy-Kate on Friday March 12, 2010 at 15:10 Well done good to see good journalism coming out of PHUKET based Media, keep it up. Posted by barka on Saturday March 13, 2010 at 07:16 Well done, guys. Keep up the good work. Posted by richie on Sunday March 14, 2010 at 14:11 I often contribute an opinion that is not in agreement with Phuketwan, however congratulations are definitely in order for this prize which is thoroughly deserved. Posted by Jimmy on Wednesday March 17, 2010 at 10:52 |
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Congratulations on this well deserved award.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by Bernie on Thursday March 11, 2010 at 12:35