FarangFarang Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 THAILAND'S Department of Special Investigations has begun an investigation into the alleged fake rescue last year of hill tribe children from sexual slavery by an Australian charityr. At the request of the Australian Federal Police, they will also submit a letter through Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking a parallel investigation in Australia that focuses on the alleged use of false advertising to solicit funds. The move follows a meeting of representatives of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (DSI), Trafcord (the anti-trafficking co-ordination unit of Northern Thailand) and the National Committee on Trafficking, foreshadowed in The Weekend Australian. AFP officers had been summoned to the meeting on Saturday at the DSI headquarters in Bangkok to hear the complaints. The AFP did not comment, but a source at the meeting said the AFP representative had asked the DSI to make the request formal through the normal channels. The Grey Man's Brisbane-based president, John Curtis, said yesterday he had no difficulties with any investigation by either the Thai government or the AFP. "We have no problem with any authority looking at our operation. Our major concern is for the children, and we stick with everything that we've done. "We'll co-operate with any investigation, but we have no doubt that we'll be completely exonerated. We have no problems with the AFP looking at both our accounts and the basis upon what it was raised." The move follows complaints that The Grey Man, which claims it is comprised of ex-police officers and special services veterans, faked the rescue of 21 Akha hill tribe children from the village of Baan Khun Suay in Chiang Rai province of northern Thailand last October. The charity placed pictures of the children on their website and Facebook pages and began an appeal for funds. But investigations by the Thai non-government organisation Trafcord and the DSI had found that the children had never left their homes, had continued to attend school and had suffered as a result of the publicity. Mr Curtis said The Grey Man's activities seemed to be resented by Trafcord. "The successes of The Grey Man seem to have raised sensitive issues with a Thai-based NGO, which unfortunately appears to have distracted them from their core activity while they pursue a vendetta against The Grey Man," he said. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/afp-thailand-investigate-claims-of-fake-rescue-of-children-from-sex-slavery/story-fn59nm2j-1226239371208 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaunitz Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) Quite a common picture: Organizations are trying to raise funds and are not able to abide by the most basic rules of journalism resp. PR. Mostly because they don't have PR/PI trained staff. This is the outcome. If this NGO is a serious one, they will have rescued children - maybe even a lot. Unfortunately, not those shown on the pictures. FAIL! - For the NGO but unfortunately but also for the kids, as this NGO will not get much more donor money. Sometimes, it pays employing a real PR/PI officer! If this NGO is not serious, no more comment needed..... Edited January 11, 2012 by kaunitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarangFarang Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Quite a common picture: Organizations are trying to raise funds and are not able to abide by the most basic rules of journalism resp. PR. Mostly because they don't have PR/PI trained staff. This is the outcome. If this NGO is a serious one, they will have rescued children - maybe even a lot. Unfortunately, not those shown on the pictures. FAIL! - For the NGO but unfortunately but also for the kids, as this NGO will not get much more donor money. Sometimes, it pays employing a real PR/PI officer!If this NGO is not serious, no more comment needed..... I think a lot of it has to do with the competitive nature of NGOs. Seldom will you ever see any sort of group like this disband because their mission has been accomplished or because it is no longer financially efficient for them to continue on due to the law of diminishing returns. In other words, they often inflate the problem in an effort to shock people into throwing money at them. Sensationalism and even fake data/information is not beyond them. They justify it based on "the good" they're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaunitz Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I think a lot of it has to do with the competitive nature of NGOs. Seldom will you ever see any sort of group like this disband because their mission has been accomplished or because it is no longer financially efficient for them to continue on due to the law of diminishing returns.In other words, they often inflate the problem in an effort to shock people into throwing money at them. Sensationalism and even fake data/information is not beyond them. They justify it based on "the good" they're doing. Definitely true! Most of them (including big players like WFP) don't want to really solve the problems because that would mean they are not needed any more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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