C
RIME
S
TORIES IN THE
E
ARLY
Y
EARS
Siamese newspapers did not always feature sensational crime reports, though crimestories, both factual and fictional, had been part of the news since people started publish-ing periodicals in Siam. The kingdom
’
s first Thai-language newspaper published for entertainment and the first by a commoner, the weekly
Darunowat
, contained storiesabout basically everything. Reports about the government and foreign countries, politicalcommentary, advertisements, proverbs, articles about natural science and fine arts,poetry and drama, and fables all featured in its pages (Wipha 1997, 128). It also occasion-ally published crime-related news. One example from 1874 presents a government reportthat states that over a period of thirteen days in the sixth month of the year, the military arrested fifteen criminals in the capital, a rate that the paper noted worked out to be 1.15arrests per day (128
–
29). In other instances, the paper published reports of odd happen-ings, such as the mysterious suicide of a slave, also in 1874, while giving few details. The
Bangkok Times
, a well-known English-language daily published in the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries also covered crime and violence. The paper publishedreports under the heading
“
miscellaneous news,
”
which included one- or two-paragraphsnippets describing minor skirmishes, arguments, snatch-theft, police news, and roadaccidents. On July 8, 1898, for example, a short report told of a Chinese named Laegoing to the market in the Hua Lamphong district and beating another Chinese uncon-scious. When the beaten man regained his senses, Lae beat him again, this time to death.No one attempted to stop the fight (Piyakanit 1988, 39).The press reported less serious incidents of crime as well, often wording these morelightheartedly, intending them as a form of casual entertainment, especially if the crimecontained some comical aspect. On May 1, 1898, for example, the
Bangkok Times
reported that an Indian constable in the Bangrak district returned to the police stationthere after his shift. The station
’
s chief inspector noticed that the Indian
’
s turban wasmissing. After a bit of questioning, the inspector discovered that someone had stolenthe turban from the constable
’
s head after he had fallen asleep on duty (Piyakanit1988, 83). In another report, the
Bangkok Times
tells of a snake charmer showing off his prowess by putting his finger in the open mouth of a snake. Unfortunately, thesnake bit the charmer, who died the next day (127). On April 26, 1899, the
BangkokTimes
reported that another constable, while on patrol, happened to see his wifecoming out of a gambling den. Incensed, the constable walked over to his wife andkicked her to the ground in the middle of the street, where she fell briefly unconscious.Shaken with guilt, the constable worked frantically to revive her (91).
7
Aside from appearing as sort of odd or amusing news stories, crime reports alsoappeared under the heading
“
khao hua muang
”
(provincial news) or as filler betweenthe wildly popular translations of Chinese epic romances or Hollywood movie scriptsand ads for various consumer products. As with crime reports from the precedingthree decades, these stories were generally just a few paragraphs long. A typicaledition of the popular
Sayam ratsadon
, like the one from July 5, 1921, for example,included short reports like the following in its provincial news section:
“
Fan khaen
7
Given the nature of the act, however, it is not exactly clear how this is supposed to be funny.
6 Samson W. Lim
CRIME S TORIES IN THE E ARLY Y EARSSiamese newspapers did not always feature sensational crime reports, though crimestories, both factual and fictional, had been part of the news since people started publish-ing periodicals in Siam. The kingdom’s first Thai-language newspaper published for entertainment and the first by a commoner, the weekly Darunowat, contained storiesabout basically everything. Reports about the government and foreign countries, politicalcommentary, advertisements, proverbs, articles about natural science and fine arts,poetry and drama, and fables all featured in its pages (Wipha 1997, 128). It also occasion-ally published crime-related news. One example from 1874 presents a government reportthat states that over a period of thirteen days in the sixth month of the year, the military arrested fifteen criminals in the capital, a rate that the paper noted worked out to be 1.15arrests per day (128–29). In other instances, the paper published reports of odd happen-ings, such as the mysterious suicide of a slave, also in 1874, while giving few details. TheBangkok Times, a well-known English-language daily published in the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries also covered crime and violence. The paper publishedreports under the heading “miscellaneous news,” which included one- or two-paragraphsnippets describing minor skirmishes, arguments, snatch-theft, police news, and roadaccidents. On July 8, 1898, for example, a short report told of a Chinese named Laegoing to the market in the Hua Lamphong district and beating another Chinese uncon-scious. When the beaten man regained his senses, Lae beat him again, this time to death.No one attempted to stop the fight (Piyakanit 1988, 39).The press reported less serious incidents of crime as well, often wording these morelightheartedly, intending them as a form of casual entertainment, especially if the crimecontained some comical aspect. On May 1, 1898, for example, the Bangkok Timesreported that an Indian constable in the Bangrak district returned to the police stationthere after his shift. The station’s chief inspector noticed that the Indian’s turban wasmissing. After a bit of questioning, the inspector discovered that someone had stolenthe turban from the constable’s head after he had fallen asleep on duty (Piyakanit1988, 83). In another report, the Bangkok Times tells of a snake charmer showing off his prowess by putting his finger in the open mouth of a snake. Unfortunately, thesnake bit the charmer, who died the next day (127). On April 26, 1899, the BangkokTimes reported that another constable, while on patrol, happened to see his wifecoming out of a gambling den. Incensed, the constable walked over to his wife andkicked her to the ground in the middle of the street, where she fell briefly unconscious.Shaken with guilt, the constable worked frantically to revive her (91).7Aside from appearing as sort of odd or amusing news stories, crime reports alsoappeared under the heading “khao hua muang” (provincial news) or as filler betweenthe wildly popular translations of Chinese epic romances or Hollywood movie scriptsand ads for various consumer products. As with crime reports from the precedingthree decades, these stories were generally just a few paragraphs long. A typicaledition of the popular Sayam ratsadon, like the one from July 5, 1921, for example,included short reports like the following in its provincial news section: “Fan khaen7Given the nature of the act, however, it is not exactly clear how this is supposed to be funny.6 Samson W. Lim
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