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Rohingya are still in detention under Thailand's questionable policy

Phuket Team Scoops Top Award for Reporting

Thursday, March 11, 2010
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.
Phuket's Big Puzzle: Where Are The Boatpeople?
UPDATE Navy activity today lends credence to reports that an unusual vessel, possibly a boatload of would be refugees, may be at sea close to the popular tourist destination of Phuket.
Phuket's Big Puzzle: Where Are The Boatpeople?

Pushbacks Exposed: Andaman Story of The Year
Behind the Front Page The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand magazine reports on how Phuketwan reporters revealed the Army's coverup of the horrifying boat people pushbacks.
Pushbacks Exposed: Andaman Story of The Year

'Withered' Rohingya Rescued from Ranong
Latest Rohingya boatpeople have been evacuated from Ranong Immigration detention centre. A doctor says conditions there were so bad that two men died and more were endangered.
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Phuket Still Linked to Slavery and Trafficking
Latest The release of a brochure on people trafficking highlights the part Phuket played in a notorious smuggling incident. Not a lot has changed since then.
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Human Trafficking: Suffocation, or Solution?
LatestDesperation drives Rohingya, Burmese and others into the hands of human traffickers, putting their lives on the line. The Bali Process this week may provide answers that Thailand needs.
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Phuket's New Rohingya: Bought from a Smuggler
Latest Phuket's community of Rohingya is small but growing. The latest arrivals have been purchased from a people smuggler in a humanitarian effort by a poor Muslim community.
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Boat People in Thailand: Phuketwan Reports
Fresh Tourist Snapshots The torment of the Rohingya boat people was brought to the world's attention by Phuketwan. Now we look forward to Thailand restoring its good reputation.
Boat People in Thailand: Phuketwan Reports

Comments

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Congratulations on this well deserved award.
Keep up the good work.

Posted by Bernie on March 11, 2010 12:35

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Congratulations, Alan and Khun Chutima!
Phuketwan is in a league of its own, clearly evident by the story and award.

Editor: Thanks for your support.

Posted by Sylvie Yaffe on March 11, 2010 13:05

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Bravo Bravo. Very well deserved indeed. Well done.

Posted by Graham on March 11, 2010 14:10

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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 March 11, 2010 14:19

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What? But I thought this was just a "local blog". ;p Congratulations.

Posted by Lost Boy on March 11, 2010 15:07

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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 March 11, 2010 15:21

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Well deserved.

Posted by Duncan on March 11, 2010 15:41

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Big congrats to the both of you.

Posted by Lana on March 11, 2010 16:08

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Congratulations, great story.

Posted by James on March 11, 2010 16:59

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Congratulations. Hopefully you still like to report the little stories. :)

Posted by Lena on March 11, 2010 17:02

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How odd; I was convinced that the Phuket Post was going to get an award this year...

Posted by Sandy Lane on March 11, 2010 20:23

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Congratulations!

Posted by Sean on March 11, 2010 20:29

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Thank you all for the nice comments :)

Posted by Oi on March 11, 2010 21:43

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Congrats!

Posted by Anonymous on March 11, 2010 23:27

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Congratulations, a story that needed to be told.

Posted by Josh on March 12, 2010 05:54

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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 March 12, 2010 11:13

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Well deserved. Well done phuketwan!

Posted by Kristy-Kate on March 12, 2010 15:10

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Well done good to see good journalism coming out of PHUKET based Media, keep it up.

Never be afraid of the TRUTH or FACTS
KEEP IT UP

Posted by barka on March 13, 2010 07:16

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Well done, guys. Keep up the good work.

Posted by richie on March 14, 2010 14:11

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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.

Whilst it would be great if Phuketwan could perform more in depth stories of corruption, follow ups to murders/crimes etc I understand the difficulties that this may cause in Thailand with certain "parties".

In saying that, Phuketwan probably does go further than any other media here, so well done.

Posted by Jimmy on March 17, 2010 10:52


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