Tourism Authority Of Thailand Plagiarism?

Is the Tourism Authority of Thailand copying or being copied?  Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as “the wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and publication, of another author’s language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one’s own original work.”

Tourism Authority Of Thailand Plagiarism

Today, 21 March 2011, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Amazing Thailand Facebook page, posted an Event.

POI SANG LONG CEREMONY 2011

Time Monday, April 4 at 8:00am – April 7 at 6:00pm

LocationAt Pang Lor Temple in Mae Hong Son municipality, Mae Hong Son Province

Created By Amazing Thailand

More InfoThe Poi Sang Long ceremony in Mae Hong Son is a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony, but it is unlike any other ceremony of its type in the country. Young boys aged between 7 and 14 are ordained as novices so they can spend time studying Buddhist doctrines. It is believed that by pursuing ordination for their parents, they gain merit.
The origins of this festival lie in Buddhist legend. It is believed that the tradition follows i…n the footsteps of Prince Rahula, the Buddha’s own son, who gave up his worldly life to follow his father’s spiritual teachings. Prince Rahula became the youngest ordained monk and the first novice in Buddhism. Subsequently it became a tradition for young boys to be ordained so they can undertake the study of Buddhist teachings. With deep reverence for the Buddhist religion, the local residents in Mae Hong Son province are of the view that the celebrations should be as grand as possible.The Poi Sang Long ceremony is unique to Mae Hong Son province. A colourful spectacle to witness, it is perhaps one of the most delightful festivals in Mae Hong Son, attracting people from far and wide.

I was pleasantly surprised at first that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) posted an event ahead of time and posted it only in English.  Then I read it.

I soon realized that this was not the work of the folks who normally post on the Amazing Thailand Facebook page.  The English was way too correct and it was more than one sentence.

So, I grabbed a sentence at random and searched with it in quotes using Google and found numerous pages with the exact same text.  When I was in school, this was called plagiarism – copying – cheating.

Here are a few of the sites with exact same text:

Thaifestivalblogs From 2010

Travel At Ease Asia From 2010 with photos

TAT Website Press Release 2011

TAT Website Press Release 2009

It appears on hundreds and hundreds of websites and it appears that it originated as a press release from the Tourist Authority of Thailand in 2009, was copied and pasted as a press release in 2010, and then again in 2011.

So, it would seem that the TAT could, if they wanted to, go after those who copied and pasted, or cut and pasted, their original 2009 press release.

And, it appears that the Tourism Authority of Thailand is guilty of being lazy and reusing the same press releases from the past over and over again.  Kind of like the Tourism Authority of Thailand has re-hashed the Amazing Thailand slogan again this year.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to http://www.travelateaseasia.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=article&Id=539123937&Ntype=46.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to http://www.tatnews.org/events/events/2011/april/5361.asp.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to http://www.tatnews.org/events/events/2009/march/4238.asp.

Tags: amazing thailand copy paste plagiarism tourism authority of thailand.thailand.tat