At what point are you supposed to stop being reasonable and make a stand against publishers who fail to pay journalists for commissioned work? This happens too often in Thailand. Every time I speak with journalists working for Thailand-based publications I hear stories about people not being paid, especially in Phuket.
Some publishers are just inexcusably slow at paying their freelancers, but you know that eventually the money will come. Others, on the other hand, will lie through their teeth to avoid paying commissions.
Part of the problem is that the English-language media in Thailand is struggling. It’s been like this for a while. Magazines come and go on an almost weekly basis it seems. Part of the problem I’ve had is with magazines ceasing publication.
It happened to me with Hype magazine. I wrote content for them and then the magazine closed down. I’d been promised payment multiple times and then one day I found out the money had apparently been spent on petty cash.
That was a little while ago. Right now, I’m chasing 7,500 baht from the former editor of a magazine that ceased publication less than a year ago. I have emails promising me the money was coming and that requests had been made to the accountant and so on.
The editor sent me an email saying that there was no doubt in his mind that I should be paid for the work I had done. Now the editor won’t return my emails. To rub salt into the wounds, there were reports in January about this man’s exciting new business venture, which is related to property.
What am I supposed to do in this situation? Should I name and shame the individual or would that show a lack of professionalism on my part? I’d be happier to just take it on the chin if I hadn’t been lied to. If someone can afford to start a new business venture then you’d think he could pay me the 7,500 I’m owed.
But this is only the tip of something. There are a number of other websites and magazines in Thailand that put freelancers in the same position. There has been talk of publishing an article about these individuals. I doubt that I’d publish such an article myself because I really don’t see any benefit in making enemies of people in the same line of work as me.
As a freelance journalist, I live off of commissions and when people don’t pay me it really screws me over. This is the main reason why I’m glad I don’t have to work for Thailand-based media outlets any more. The people I work for now chase me up if I haven’t been paid.
I’m sure other people have had similar experiences. Feel free to share them, but let’s keep names and companies out the discussion for the time being. I can only speak based on my experiences at this stage.