Mourning colleague Bandhit Rajavatadhanin

Mr. Bandhit Rajavatadhanin has been seriously ill for more than a year and we have been following his health developments, but when hearing the news of his death, many of his friends and colleagues were still shocked, surprised and bewildered. We deeply mourn the loss of a journalist – a close and loyal colleague of the Vietnamese press, a successful connector – always nurturing the friendship between the Vietnamese and Thai press…

Journalist Bandhit during a visit to the Vietnam Journalists Association.

It seems that he was born in this life to be fully devoted to journalism, to the work of the Federation of Thai Journalists - connecting friends at home and abroad. That is journalist Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin, Honorary President of the Federation of ASEAN Journalists, Honorary President of the Federation of Thai Journalists, former Editor-in-Chief of the Bangkok Post - a veteran, prestigious writer for 35 years of one of the leading daily newspapers of the Golden Temple country. At the age of 35, Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin was the President of the Club of Economic - Industrial, Commercial, Financial, Banking, and Securities Journalists of Bangkok City.

Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin comes from a poor farming family in Famplan district, Nakhon Pathom province, 150 km from Bangkok. I have visited the coconut-shaded garden and the house where his childhood was filled with memories twice with him and his Vietnamese colleagues. His father died early, and his mother had to work hard to raise her children. Loving his mother, the young Bandhit had a strong will to be independent very early. At the age of 19, after completing the military service required of all young Thai men, the young man from a farming family, Bandhit, went to the bustling, urban, and pitfall-filled Bangkok to start a career.

He recalled: “The first thing is to study-study-and-study; if you don’t have money, you have to work and study at the same time.” Bangkok University of Law was where he first tried his hand. After graduating from Law School, fate brought him to journalism by chance. While unemployed, he read that Bangkok Post was recruiting reporters, he applied and was accepted in the first round. And November 7, 1963 became a “milestone” in his life - the day Bandhit became a reporter for the Bangkok Post daily newspaper. After 3 months of probation as prescribed, he was the only person recruited by the newspaper owner and received a salary increase of one and a half times. He quickly became a key writer for Bangkok Post, specializing in economics, finance, stocks, trade, and industry. He was elected as Chairman of the Bangkok City Economic Journalists Club; was chosen by the newspaper owner to be the Editor-in-Chief of the Bangkok Post Economic Board, and then became Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief of this famous daily newspaper.

Journalist Bandhit (right) & journalist Kim Toan (Hai Phong), 2010.

I still remember, in 2009, in Bangkok, on the occasion of the Bangkok Economic Journalists Club celebrating its 40th anniversary and holding a congress to elect a new executive board, I and a delegation of Vietnamese journalists who were visiting Thailand were invited by the Club's President to attend. The Prime Minister of Thailand at that time, Mr. Abhisit, along with many ministers and chairmen of Thai economic groups, attended. When Mr. Bandhit entered, the whole hall stood up and applauded to honor the honorary president of the club. Intelligent, responsible, passionate about his job, knowledgeable about law and economics, fluent in English - through self-study, Bandhit quickly mastered his work, ran professional journalism activities, established extensive social relationships, and had influence and prestige in the media and government officials.

It is not an exaggeration when colleagues consider journalist Bandhit a symbol of the friendship between the press and media of the two countries; a person who contributed to laying the foundation for the cooperation between the press and media of Vietnam and Thailand. Journalist Bandhit once said: “To me, Vietnam has something very strange, very special. Vietnam is always in my heart. I have many close friends in Vietnam; I remember them every day”. Since 1998, after retiring from management positions in the media industry, every year he has actively organized to connect Vietnamese friends and colleagues to visit and exchange with friendly colleagues from the Land of the Golden Pagoda.

Journalist Huu Minh, a former reporter for the Vietnam News Agency who was based in Bangkok more than half a century ago, and I often had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mr. Bandhit. Journalist Hong Phuong, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Journalists Association, and I went to Bangkok. Instead of staying at a hotel, we stayed at his house at his warm invitation. We talked about many things about life and the profession. Every time we met, he sincerely asked about the health of his colleagues. He mentioned journalists Phan Quang and the late journalist Tran Cong Man - two former leaders of the Vietnam Journalists Association whom he loved and respected; there were fond memories of their "beginnings". Journalist and General Tran Cong Man was seriously ill. That day, while leading a group of Vietnamese journalists to visit a temple in Thailand, he called General Man's private home to ring the bell and pray, hoping that General Man would recover quickly. Many years have passed, but he still mentions journalist Tran Mai Hanh with sympathy and understanding when he encounters professional "mishaps". In his wine cabinet, there are still two bottles of wine that the late journalist Tran Cong Man and journalist Tran Mai Hanh sent him decades ago. That day, when he had the opportunity to receive a delegation of Vietnamese journalists at his home, he and his colleagues sipped a little to remember the old friendship and old friendship. Every time I witnessed that, I suddenly thought, in Vietnam, with close friends, how many people are as loyal and affectionate as he is?

He often mentioned journalists Nguyen Kim Toan (Hai Phong), the late journalist Nguyen Viet Khai (Quang Ninh), Xuan Luong, Phuong Hong (Da Nang), Hong Phuong, the late journalist Dinh Phong, female journalist Hang Nga (Ho Chi Minh City), the late journalist Tran Quang Huy (Vung Tau) etc. with many profound memories. By chance, he was the one who connected and supported the daughter of the late journalist Nguyen Viet Khai to receive perfect training and maturity - under the scholarship program at a university in Bangkok.

Meeting and chatting with Vietnamese colleagues, he proudly mentioned two historical interviews related to Vietnam in his journalistic career. In 1978, three years after the complete liberation of the South and the reunification of Vietnam, a delegation of 40 Thai businessmen and trade activists came to Hanoi for the first time. Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin was the only Thai journalist invited to join the delegation and was also the first journalist to have the honor of meeting and interviewing Prime Minister Pham Van Dong at the Prime Minister's Office - Hanoi about the people and the country of Vietnam's great victory. He commented: "Prime Minister Pham Van Dong is an outstanding politician, but the Prime Minister is surprisingly friendly, simple, and profound." After this meeting and interview, the heart of his Thai colleague Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin was almost in tune with his Vietnamese friends.

In 1993, when he was the President of the ASEAN Journalists Federation and Head of the ASEAN Journalists Delegation visiting Vietnam, the delegation was honored to be warmly received by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi. He recalled that at that time, when he first met the members of the ASEAN journalist delegation, General Secretary Do Muoi warmly asked: "Did journalist Phan Quang (then President of the Vietnam Journalists Association) and the Vietnamese journalists take good care of your accommodation, places to visit and work?". Head of the delegation Bandhit replied: "The Vietnamese took very good care of us." He said: "The General Secretary - the highest leader of Vietnam is very affectionate, close, open, and simple." The photo of him with General Secretary Do Muoi, presented by the Office of the Vietnam Journalists Association, is solemnly hung in the living room at 63/2 Petkasem Rd. Bangkhae, Bangkok 10160. He considers it a privilege, a professional memory forever engraved in his heart.

During his career as a journalist, journalist-politician Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin visited and worked in Vietnam more than 20 times; he traveled from North to South, from the northernmost region, Northeast Lang Son, Quang Ninh to the central provinces, to the Mekong Delta. In his road diary, he recorded the names and addresses of about 200 close friends in the Vietnamese press. He was passionate about Vietnamese cuisine, knew many corners of the Vietnamese countryside, and enjoyed many Vietnamese dishes that not every Vietnamese person had the opportunity to taste. I had the opportunity to go with him many times, rarely saw him sing, but surprisingly, at a restaurant on the Han River - Da Nang, he led the singing and the group of Thai journalists sang passionately: " We are all this world, there are no borders in friendship, here we are all brothers, friendship is as vast as the ocean, the sky. We unite together for love, for happiness together, for humanity..." He sang with all his sincere feelings, making the party on the Han River impressive, becoming a beautiful memory, a professional memory that will never fade.

I still remember the memory of a Vietnamese colleague who came to Bangkok and asked him to take him to infiltrate entertainment and sex tourism spots. He remained silent. At the end of the meeting, he whispered to me: “ Colleague X’s suggestion is not advisable and impossible. There is no point in going there. As for journalism, people have talked about that a lot, there is nothing new anymore ”. His opinion was correct. That is also the courage and quality of journalist Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin.

Over the years, I have observed many things in him from his daily life, which sometimes makes people have little time for due to the whirlwind of work. His wife, Can-cha-na, recounted: “ He loves his mother, his siblings, and is very close and friendly with his friends and neighbors. He works regardless of time, without getting tired, and never rests. Every morning, he and five or seven old friends call each other to exercise and take a walk. An hour later, the whole group of friends gather at his house for breakfast, tea, and coffee - cooked and mixed by him. When entertaining friends, he never bothers his wife and children .” His three daughters, Phan-da-rat, Phan-thi-pha, and Pha-ra-nan, always consider him an idol in terms of striving, self-learning, and progress. Pharaoh, the beautiful youngest daughter, who graduated with a master's degree in business administration in Australia, confided: " My father's will and determination are an example for me to overcome difficulties and laziness to have today."

For him, “ Homeland is the cradle of the origin of a career”, “Mother is everything in this life ”, recalling the bus trip bringing the first month of probationary salary back to his hometown to give to his mother, he confided to his Vietnamese colleagues that to educate children well, parents must set an example, love their children, but never spoil them. To truly grow up, children must be independent to rise up, not rely on or rely on their parents. Let's make children know how to love the money they have earned through their own labor, thrift, and savings. His whole life has been passionate about journalism - always a shining example of will, determination, independence, and self-affirmation. He confided, “ When children can take care of their own lives, on holidays, birthdays, and when they go on vacation, if their children give them money, parents should accept it, there will be times when they need it - for themselves and sometimes for their children” .

Journalist Bandhit’s philosophy and experience in raising his children have proven to be very reasonable. Thanks to that, his children are all successful, mature, well-behaved, and highly independent. His eldest son is a direct reflection of him, not only in appearance but also in his independent and hard-working personality. That is also the happiness and joy that journalist Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin has achieved in his life – along with a successful career, always loved and respected by friends and colleagues.

Colleague Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin was born on June 4, 1938. According to Vietnamese calculations, he was born under the sign of the Tiger - the king of the jungle. He passed away on November 23, 2023, at the age of 85. After a long journey, I write this article about a close Thai colleague, a giant of the Thai press, as a farewell incense stick to him - veteran journalist Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin.

Journalist PHAM QUOC TOAN

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/thuong-tiec-dong-nghiep-bandhit-rajavatadhanin-post273694.html