Understanding Soft Power: Western Journalists Use Bangkok For Regional Agitation

November 24, 2017 (Joseph Thomas - NEO) - The so-called Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) is located in downtown Bangkok and includes the regional offices of many of the United States' and Europe's largest media organizations. It also includes a large, swank clubhouse complete with a restaurant and bar, where events are held.

The FCCT on its website offers a lengthy, self-aggrandising and somewhat incoherent explanation as to what function it actually serves, claiming:

The FCCT moved into a penthouse floor with access from a corridor already filling up with foreign media offices. The Maneeya today houses AsiaWorks, the BBC, ABC, ITN Channel 4, NBC, InFocus, Al Jazeera and the Financial Times, among others. This guarantees the FCCT constant journalist traffic, imbuing it with the feel of a genuine press club. It has a good bar and decent enough kitchen but makes no pretensions to emulating the grandeur of its counterparts in Hong Kong or Tokyo - nor the fakeness of the "FCC" in Cambodia, a bar and restaurant with one of the best views in Asia but no hacks. 

In reality, it is a regional hub where US and European lobbyists and agitators, posing a journalists, coordinate events, programmes and propaganda campaigns targeting not only Thailand itself, but Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbours.

Image: FCCT aiding in political stunt on behalf of ousted regime.

It was at the FCCT, the club proudly boasted, that former education minister and political lieutenant of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Chaturon Chaisaeng held a press conference to grandstand while turning himself into the military after the 2014 coup. It was organised specifically to have the cameras of the West's biased media machine capture the moment soldiers arrested him, depicting Thailand as a state overwhelmed by a brutal military dictatorship.

The FCCT claims that by hosting the army's spokesman the next week, the FCCT is "doing something right" by playing an impartial and unbiased role. Those familiar with Thai politics and the absolutely biased nature both events were spun in favour of the ousted Shinawatra regime and the interests in Washington, London and Brussels sponsoring him, and at the cost of the new government's credibility, know otherwise.

A Hub for Agitation 

The FCCT had recently scheduled an event with the US State Department-funded Virginia-based Boat People SOS organisation. The FCCT admits in its announcement that the event was intended to:

...discuss the overall human rights situation in Vietnam, the imprisonment of at least 165 prisoners of conscience with heavy sentences, and the recent launch of the NOW! Campaign, an initiative by 15 human rights organisations around the world, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these men and women.

The FCCT claims that the event was cancelled after several meetings with the police and military.


No explanation was given by the FCCT as to what grounds the event were cancelled on, but at a period when Asian states are meeting at the APEC summit in Vietnam, Bangkok likely believed it was inappropriate to host foreign-funded agitators attempting to undermine Vietnam's credibility while Thai representatives were in Da Nang negotiating over and discussing the collective future of the region.

Image: Boat People SOS is based in the US, funded by the US government, and serves the single purpose of pressuring the Vietnamese to heed to US interests.  

Curiously after the FCCT's announcement, a ripple of stories moved through other US-funded organisations in Thailand, including the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and George Soros Open Society-funded media front, Prachatai.

Supposedly-independent Thai nongovernmental organisations and media platforms, foreign media organisations and US-based organisations focused on Vietnam seem to have very little in common at first glance. That is until it is understood that they all form aspects of US and European "soft power" in Asia and beyond.

Who is Behind Organisations like the FCCT and Why? 

The FCCT itself has also received funding from and has served a role in supporting US, European and corporate foundation foreign policy objectives in Southeast Asia.

After revelations emerged that the FCCT received funds from convicted financial criminal George Soros' Open Society Foundation, FCCT president Dominic Faulder and BBC correspondent Jonathan Head would at first attempt to categorically deny it.

A bizarre story soon appeared in the English-language Thai newspaper, The Nation, in which the above-mentioned NED-funded front Prachatai denied its foreign funding influenced its news coverage, along with a categorical denial by Faulder, claiming, "no financial support from outside at all. We have no financiers, none."  

Before long, however, Jonathan Head, who also initially and categorically denied the accusations, admitted to a "one-off" media seminar Open Society and the FCCT conducted in Myanmar. And while Head's admission undermined Faulder's categorical denial, it turns out that Head was still lying.

Located at the same address as the FCCT and headed by the FCCT's own president, is the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF). On its own official website, it clearly and definitively lists George Soros' Open Society as one of several "outside" supporters.

The IMMF is a training programme used to stand up entire media organisations that help amplify and advocate US and European narratives on behalf of US and European special interests. In fact, it was precisely at the IMMF that Myanmar's current minister of information was trained.

Thus, in addition to agitating the region, hubs like the FCCT work together to compromise and co-opt the region's media circles as well as influence entire government ministries.

Hiding Behind, Not Upholding Journalism 

It is clear than that "journalism" has little to do with the FCCT's real mission statement, going far in explaining the FCCT's "about us" page and its inability to explain what it actually does.

What the FCCT actually does is use "journalism" as a façade to pursue the political interests of foreign nations in a host country and region while conducting training to create local "echo chambers" to manipulate and control public perception.

The FCCT is not alone. Similar "clubs" and organisations exist all over the globe. The "superstar" effect of local journalists and "activists" being invited into the "clubhouse" comes at the cost of echoing US and European talking points and advocating for US and European interests. Articles like those appearing in The Nation and opinions and editorials that frequently appear in both English and Thai are owed one part due to this, and another part due to the training and indoctrination "clubs" like the FCCT and other recipients of US and European government money are conducting.

The large "human rights" industrial complex Washington, London and Brussels have constructed as a firewall between overt subversion and political meddling and a targeted nation's ability to curb their activities prevents Bangkok or any other nation in the region from moving against organisations like the FCCT and its many collaborators.

However, with the US recently forcing Russia's RT news network to register as foreign agents, it may have inadvertently given targets of its own, and very real political meddling the precedent and tools needed to expose and uproot hubs like the FCCT.

By diminishing the "superstar" effect the FCCT uses to recruit local collaborators, and creating alternative media platforms with the same or greater appeal is already successfully being done in nations like Russia and China. Nations like Russia and China could even help nations like Thailand transform their media to truly and more effectively reflect their own national interests.

Joseph Thomas is chief editor of Thailand-based geopolitical journal, The New Atlas and contributor to the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

How Modern Empire Uses "Awards" to Keep Servants Loyal

November 21, 2017 (Joseph Thomas - NEO) - Nineteenth century French military and political leader Napoléon Bonaparte once said, "a soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of coloured ribbon," recognising a fundamental aspect of human nature he readily exploited to bolster his now famous campaigns of European conquest.

Human beings value recognition. Today, it drives the addictive nature of social media platforms. Facebook co-founder Sean Parker recently admitted that the ubiquitous social network platform was designed intentionally to exploit this and become "addictive."

In the Guardian's report titled, "Ex-Facebook president Sean Parker: site made to exploit human 'vulnerability'," Sean Parker would describe what he called a "social-validation feedback loop," explaining that:

“How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?” It was this mindset that led to the creation of features such as the “like” button that would give users “a little dopamine hit” to encourage them to upload more content. 

“It’s a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

This social-validation feedback loop utilising the "like" button is merely the most recent innovation in social engineering, and the latest iteration of Bonaparte's "bit of coloured ribbon." 

Keeping Servants Eager and Loyal 

Combining traditional methods and modern innovations in social engineering, modern day empires extend their influence through media, activist, political and business circles around the globe. In addition to boosting modern social media accounts of their handpicked proxies, facilitators and agents, they also maintain an impressive network of organisations that both manage and direct "soft power" efforts as well as reward eager and loyal functionaries.


A relevant and recent example of this was provided by the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The seemingly progressive organisation is in fact funded and directed by large US and European corporate-financier interests including banks, big-industry and convicted financial criminal George Soros' Open Society Foundation (see CPJ's 2015 annual report here).

In addition to maintaining a global network of media organisations that promote pro-US-European narratives and using human rights advocacy to protect their functionaries from local governments exposing and disrupting what is essentially lobbying dressed as journalism, CPJ also offers its annual CPJ International Press Freedom Awards.

It serves the duel purpose of lending the illusion of legitimacy to awardees, as well as fuelling the awardee's ego to continue serving the interests CPJ represents.

A Profile in Eager Loyalty 

CPJ's 2017 awardees included Pravit Rojanaphruk from Thailand, a Chevening scholar and an eager member of Thailand's opposition who uses his journalist credentials as cover for politically-motivated attacks against Thailand's independent institutions in concert with foreign embassies as well as media organisations like CNN, the BBC, Qatar's Al Jazeera, Reuters and many more.

The CPJ claims in their profile of Rojanaphruk:

Pravit Rojanaphruk is one of Thailand's most prominent critical reporters and a long-time advocate for press freedom. He is currently a columnist and senior staff writer for Khaosod English (Fresh News), a website established in 2013 that publishes critical coverage of Thailand's junta. Before that, he worked for more than 20 years with the local English-language newspaper The Nation.

CPJ and Rojanaphruk himself intentionally and repeatedly omit that his opposition to Thailand's current government under the guise of promoting democracy and freedom of expression is entirely one-sided and dishonest.

Image: Shinawatra supporters walks off with weapons seized from the Thai military in 2010 after ambushing and killing dozens of soldiers and bystanders. Rojanaphruk often condemns the Thai military for ousting the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra claiming it is an attack on democracy and human rights, but intentionally omits the violations of human rights the Shinawatra regime is guilty of that prompted the 2006 and 2014 coups respectively. 

Rojanaphruk often decries the Thai military which came to power after a 2014 coup. He neglects to mention the government it ousted from power was openly and illegally run by convicted criminal and fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra who remotely ran the country from a hotel suite in Dubai through his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra who help office in his absence. 

He also neglects to mention that up until the day of the coup, Shinawatra had deployed armed terrorists who were mass murdering anti-Shinawatra protesters in the streets with grenades and assault rifles. 

Rojanaphruk also repeatedly neglects to mention the violence and abuse of human rights Thailand faced under Shinatrawatra's regime whom he seeks to return to power, including curbs on the media, assassinations and a campaign of mass murder spanning just 90 days in 2003 that left nearly 3,000 dead or the violence and terrorism still being carried out by Shinawatra's supporters.

While Rojanaphruk decries the Thai government for its "crackdown" on "democracy," he sidesteps violations of human rights carried out by the opposition of which he belongs. In other words, Rojanaphruk is merely bias, lobbying for Shinawatra's opposition and the foreign interests that back it, including the very same interests that sponsor the CPJ.

Giving Functionaries their "Dopamine Hit"

The CPJ International Press Freedom Award presented to Rojanaphruk is meant partly to grant him further legitimacy in front of Western audiences unaware of the true nature of Thailand's political crisis, but also partly to feed the ego of Rojanaphruk himself, to keep him eager and loyal to what is otherwise modern day imperialism and the embodiment of the very sort of injustice he himself claims to stand against.

Empires in particular seek out the most self-absorbed and egotistical, because it is among this segment of the population that a "bit of coloured ribbon" works best.

Rojanaphruk boasts of his various awards, scholarships, fellowships and even awards he merely was a finalist for in his various self-authored profiles. Despite claiming to be a journalist, his social media accounts are flooded with stories and images of himself at the centre of attention, performing political stunts aimed at protesting the Thai government, making news rather than reporting on it.

There are tens of thousands of Pravit Rojanaphruks scattered not only across Thailand and Southeast Asia, but across the entire globe posing as activists, journalists, politicians and leaders in various industries, but ultimately serving as functionaries for interests on Wall Street and in London and Brussels. For the recognition that many so eagerly crave, awards and "achievements" are carefully designed to give functionaries their "dopamine hit" encouraging them to achieve yet more still.

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of Rojanaphruk himself, though, is that he comes from a nation with a widely known saying, ผู้ปิดทองหลังพระ (po bit tong lang pra) which roughly means doing good deeds without seeking attention. Strong, independent and just societies are built by those who do good deeds for the sake of doing them and for the betterment of society as a whole, while empires are built on the back of those who do deeds merely to obtain attention, ribbons, medals and awards for themselves.

It is worth considering, the next time an award event is organised, who funds those organising it, who they are offering the awards to, and what behaviour they are trying to encourage. For better or worse, such events represent social engineering and understanding what is being "engineered" is essential. It is also worth considering for nations infected with circles of sycophants eagerly destabilising order for foreign awards to find a means of encouraging more constructive behaviour. 

Joseph Thomas is chief editor of Thailand-based geopolitical journal, The New Atlas and contributor to the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

Thailand Pushes Back Against BBC Propaganda

December 8, 2016 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Thailand's government has opened an investigation into BBC's "BBC Thai" and its recent activities. It is accused of maliciously slandering Thailand's newly appointed head of state, King Maha Vajiralongkorn in a recent "profile" published in both English and Thai on its website and across social media.

The BBC, known for misleading the public globally, has helped justify devastating wars, political conflict, and the socioeconomic division and destruction of entire nations. While the Western media attempts to portray the BBC's row in Thailand as merely a Thai issue - it is in fact the latest in an extensive global backlash against the monopoly the West has - until now - enjoyed over the media.

The BBC in Thailand 

While the BBC has maintained an office in Thailand for years, "BBC Thai" was created only in 2014, just after the US-backed regime of Thaksin Shinawatra - headed by his own sister Yingluck Shinawatra - was ousted from power amid massive street protests and a subsequent military coup.

Since then, the BBC has worked ceaselessly toward undermining the government, the military, as well as attacking the nation's ancient and revered institutions in an effort to bolster Western-backed opposition fronts.

This includes several notable stunts including the BBC's Jonathan Head visiting the 2015 Bangkok bomb blast scene to tamper with evidence in an effort to undermine the investigation and humiliate investigators as well as the government. Head would confiscate evidence from the scene and carry it to a near by police station - all on camera - in a very public and staged attempt to depict investigators as incompetent. Despite what is a chargeable offense in even the most liberal nations, Thai police attempted to downplay the incident.

During the deluge of leaked documents and emails over the past year, information regarding the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) of which the BBC's Jonathan Head is a senior figure, revealed ties to convicted financial criminal George Soros and Open Society.

Head would flatly deny the accusations first published by Bangkok-based alternative news site "The New Atlas," before admitting to "a one-off media seminar in Myanmar." However, further investigation revealed that the FCCT included in its Bangkok office, and headed by the FCCT's own president - Dominic Faulder - "The Indochina Media Memorial Foundation" (IMMF) whose actives were indeed funded for years by Open Society.

Disrupting Thailand's Sensitive Transition 

Thailand is currently undertaking a sensitive transition. The universally revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej's passing in October 2016 began a year of mourning as well as the process of his son and successor, King Maha Vajiralongkorn assuming responsibilities as head of state.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has already appointed a new Privy Council. containing several members from his father's inner circle as well as several new advisers who were central in maintaining national unity and stability amid Thailand's recent political crisis.

The appointment of this Privy Council reveals that rumors intentionally spread by the Western media - including the BBC - were categorically false in regards to the "turmoil" and even "civil war" they attempted to promote for years before the anticipated transition in an effort to stoke fear and division among the Thai public.

Regardless of the BBC and other names amongst the Western media being involved in serial deception, they continue using their journalistic credentials to shield themselves from both official and public backlash in Thailand - just as they have elsewhere around the world.

Considering the significant human tragedy the BBC has helped precipitate in, targeting nations like Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen, Thailand's reaction to the BBC's politically-motivated tactics and overt attempts to agitate under the cover of "journalism" is proportional to the very real, clear, and present danger it poses to national security.

While Thailand has so far been characteristically lenient on the BBC, despite open fraud and even senior staff tampering with crime scenes, the Western media, faux-rights advocacy groups, and even Western governments are attempting to portray Thailand's recent actions as unreasonable and a breach of "freedom of expression." The irony of course is, that as the West accuses Thailand of suppressing "freedom of expression," the West itself is busy attempting to round up and silence its own detractors under the guise of "confronting fake news."

In reality, the BBC could easily be considered among the "original fake news networks." And if "fake news" must be countered, the BBC should be first in line.

Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.” 

Ukraine to Ferguson: America Reaping What it Sows

August 25, 2014 (NEO Journal) - What is happening now in Ferguson was inevitable. You cannot allow the killing of civilians across the globe by those you've elected and then go home and watch TV. If such barbaric acts are allowed somewhere else, they will be allowed everywhere.

People are saying: "how could this have happened, is it even real?" Surely certain German citizens were feeling the same when Hitler turned out to be a monster. It was coming, everybody knew that, but nobody cared enough to actually do something about it.

You can't leave politics alone, since it has no intention of leaving you alone.

NOTE: The Neo-Nazi militants featured in the video above raiding eastern Ukraine (wearing orange armbands) are of the Azov Battalion, featured in Al Jazeera's article, "Driven by far-right ideology, Azov Battalion mans Ukraine’s front line."

Nazism: History is Repeating itself in Ukraine

Russia vs. NATO: Containment 2.0

April 30, 2014 (Cross Talk - RT) What does Washington's "containment" policy mean? What threats does it pose? Will it work against today's Russia? And does this mean Washington has declared a new Cold War? CrossTalking with Stephen Cohen and John Mearsheimer. 

Easter Greetings...

April 17, 2014 (New Eastern Outlook)

The world is what we make of it.

Regardless of our differences, we have many similarities, including our desire for peace and prosperity. Understanding our differences and our similarities allows us to move forward together, creating a vibrant, colorful tapestry made by the very best we have within.

Happy Easter from the editorial board of New Eastern Outlook.

Audio: The song is "We are singing to you," composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Performed by the Dzvinochok Boys Choir.

May Syria Prevail (VIDEO)

April 7, 2014 (New Eastern Outlook)

New Eastern Outlook

Since 2011 the Syrian people have been fighting against a long-planned foreign conspiracy to violently reorder their nation.

Fighting off tens of thousands of foreign-backed sectarian militants for 3 years, the Syrian people are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For those that have stood with Syria these last 3 years, we must keep standing strong.

For those just becoming aware of the Syrian crisis, join hands with the Syrian people and raise your voices to end this war.

For more news and analysis on Syria and across the Eastern World, please visit New Eastern Outlook http://journal-neo.org/