Enhancing cooperation between the Vietnam Journalists' Association and Thai media

In response to an invitation from the Confederation of Thai Journalists (CTJ), the delegation of the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA), led by Mr. Le Quoc Minh, a member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of the People’s Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department and President of the Vietnam Journalists' Association, paid an official visit to Thailand from November 25 to 29.

On the afternoon of November 25, the VJA delegation held a working session with the CTJ delegation. During the discussions, both sides focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in areas such as training and professional exchanges in journalism. These areas included language training, technical skills and practical fieldwork, especially in the context of natural disasters, storms and floods. The two sides also exchanged ideas on strengthening cultural and sports exchanges between Vietnam and Thailand.

During the talks, Mr. Le Quoc Minh agreed with the Thai side's proposal to send journalist delegations to exchange professional experiences between the two countries. He expressed that the VJA is ready to diversify cooperation activities, including pairing professional exchanges with sports events. Both sides could organize exchanges involving female journalists, young journalists, as well as veteran journalists and these exchanges could serve as a model for media relations in the region.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh also mentioned that in 2025, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam's Revolutionary Press Day, the VJA plans to invite several Thai journalist delegations to visit Vietnam for work and friendly sports exchanges. Both sides agreed to promote the exchange of sports delegations and each would designate a point of contact to facilitate the coordination of sending sports teams from each association to engage in friendly competitions. In the near future, they discussed the possibility of organizing exchanges in sports such as football and sepak takraw, with events taking place in Hanoi as well as in other provinces across Vietnam.

On behalf of the Thai side, Mrs. Norrinee Ruangnoo, the First Vice President of the Thai Journalists Association, expressed her appreciation for the proposals put forward by the Vietnam Journalists' Association. She emphasized that these initiatives would provide a very engaging platform for journalists from both countries and expressed a strong desire for these activities to become an annual tradition. The Thai side also conveyed their readiness to welcome Vietnamese reporters next year for Thai language training, while also expressing the hope that Vietnam would extend an invitation to Thai journalists to Hanoi for Vietnamese language training.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chavarong Limpattamapanee, Senior Advisor of CTJ, reflected on the recent cooperation between CTJ and VJA, highlighting their shared membership in the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ), which aims to achieve high effectiveness in cooperation. Mr. Limpattamapanee mentioned that both sides had previously discussed the idea of implementing exchanges of sports delegations consisting of journalists between the two countries. This was first proposed during CTJ's visit to Vietnam last year, with a particular focus on futsal (indoor football).

The Thai side is working quickly to finalize the organization of football teams as well as other sports events. Mr. Chavarong Limpattamapanee, Senior Advisor of CTJ, mentioned that if there is any misinformation about Vietnam in Thailand, CTJ is fully prepared to receive feedback from Vietnamese media outlets based in Thailand, such as the People’s Newspaper, Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam News Agency. Through these channels, CTJ aims to gather information, investigate the matter, and ensure the dissemination of accurate and reliable facts.

Earlier, on the afternoon of November 25, during a meeting with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was attended by several senior leaders from CTJ, Mr. Le Quoc Minh expressed his sincere appreciation for the warm and respectful welcome extended by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He reiterated that the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA) highly values its relationship with Thai media organizations and CTJ, with a particular focus on the annual exchange visits between VJA and CTJ delegations.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh provided a general introduction to the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA), sharing that Vietnam has approximately 45.000 professionals working in the field of journalism, of which 25.000 are members of the VJA. He also mentioned that next year, Vietnam will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh emphasized that, like many other countries, the media in Vietnam is facing both challenges and opportunities, especially with the proliferation of information on social media platforms, where around 7 billion pieces of information are uploaded every day worldwide. This vast amount of information has led to cases of misinformation and confusion. With the proliferation of smartphones, people can easily post content online, and unfortunately, much of this content is inaccurate. Moreover, the individuals sharing such information often face little to no consequences for spreading falsehoods.

As a result, it is crucial for traditional media outlets to quickly adapt and develop strategies to ensure they can deliver accurate and timely information. A key focus is addressing the spread of fake news and working towards creating a standardized and clean information environment.

Mr. Le Quoc Minh expressed that the Vietnam Journalists' Association is fully prepared to deepen its cooperation with the Thai media, including through collaboration with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He emphasized the importance of strengthening mutual partnerships and exchanging valuable experiences and lessons learned between the two countries. Such exchanges, he believes, will significantly contribute to the growth and advancement of journalism in both Vietnam and Thailand. He also highlighted that some of Thailand’s leading newspapers, such as Bangkok Post, Thairat and Matichon, stand out for their professionalism and commitment to delivering high-quality information.

During the meeting, Thai Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Russ Jalichandra extended a warm welcome to the VJA delegation, expressing his delight at their visit. He reaffirmed that the relationship between Vietnam and Thailand has been growing increasingly strong and friendly. He pointed out that the historical connection between the peoples of the two countries has long existed, with many Vietnamese people living in Thailand for generations.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russ Jalichandra, emphasized the increasingly vital role of the media today, noting how much the forms of communication have evolved. He pointed out that, in the modern world, individuals no longer need to have in-depth knowledge of the journalism field to disseminate information to the public through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and others. While this has opened up new opportunities for communication, it has also led to the spread of misleading misinformation, sometimes at a national level. Given this situation, he underscored the growing importance of media cooperation between countries.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports and will provide the highest level of assistance for the development of cooperation between the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA) and Thai media organizations, aiming to expand both the scale and depth of their collaboration. Furthermore, the Ministry highlighted that, in recent months, it has been working closely with mainstream media outlets from various countries to promote the dissemination of accurate and official information. This initiative is aimed at rectifying misunderstandings caused by previous misinformation, ensuring that the public is accurately informed about key issues.

According to the plan, on November 26, the delegation of the Vietnam Journalists' Association will have meetings with the Mass Media Corporation of Thailand (MCOT), the Matichon Media Group and The Standard newspaper.