It is hard not to become depressed and sad following the news of the natural calamity unfolding in Japan, with the earthquake, tsunami, the possible nuclear meltdown and heavy loss of life. Heartbreaking images keep flooding the media, laying bare the vicissitudes of life as the expected death toll rises towards 20,000.

At times I feel so depressed I have to stop following the latest twists of the news as they unfold live on-line and through other media.

The donation drive is growing in Thailand, with both the government and private organisations taking various initiatives over the past 10 days or so.

Some may say Japan is an affluent society not needing aid, especially monetary, but this writer feels that the most important thing is not whether they need our help or not, but to reach out to the Japanese people and let them feel the empathy of other communities when they see graphic suffering unfolding on television and other media.

Many Japanese lost loved ones, others are left homeless and not a few literally lost both. For many, it will certainly take far more than physical strength and mental stoicism to survive this dark chapter of their lives.

One day, when Japan recovers from the ruin and loss, she will certainly feel grateful and more inclined to help others in need around the globe. So any effort and heartfelt gestures pouring into Japan from the international community surely will not be wasted, even from a utilitarian point of view, because they will be felt by the Japanese victims who survived.

But while such outpouring of sympathy will continue in the days to come, this writer can't help but wonder about the less visible suffering of people elsewhere that hardly make news because they are not "sexy" or dramatic enough. Think of the number of people who die each day from malnutrition or starvation in Africa and Asia. Or people who are the underclass in many societies and victims of structural violence on a daily basis, in Thailand and elsewhere.

It seems we're partially at the mercy on the few international media organisations who set the agenda as to what it is we should pay attention to and feel sad about.

As days pass, the news about Japan's calamities is getting less coverage (at least pending a possible full-blown nuclear meltdown) and we are led by the international news media, mostly western media, to pay more attention to the Libyan conflict. So it's not just that international news media indirectly dictates to us what is newsworthy or not, but it also ensures that our attention span is brief enough to fit their "news products".

The struggle to recover and rebuild lives and towns in Japan will continue in the months and years to come - even if it no longer makes the main international headline news. And so too will the invisible and less dramatic sufferings of people elsewhere around the underdeveloped and even the developed parts of the world.

So continues the irony of the global (news) village, where dramatic suffering of those far away is often more visible than the quiet and low-intensity suffering of those nearer or even around us.

This makes me wonder too if we have become too addicted to news of dramatic suffering and disaster to the point we no longer care about silent suffering of others anymore. Is it comparable to people being addicted to having MSG put in their food - or to those who love over-dramatised soap operas on television?