Catch up, Part 2: Post-Red Shirt Bangkok

By the time i got back from Germany, there was no sign of the military who had resided in my 'hood for the last 2 months. The streets were cleaned up, the barricades were gone.And it's nice that i can go out again and roam the city as i please again...

But to me, things still feel a little off. there was already a "Together, We Can" campaign going in full force - banners, ads, commercials... and lots of sales, designed to bring tourists back to thailand... which is good, because this is a beautiful country, and the business is needed. And yes, it's important to preserve Thai culture, obviously.

But the ads are kind of disturbing, really - they just push  "happy happy joy joy" a little too much, and there seems to be no visible effort to help people come to terms with the situation in a constructive way...and sometimes i wonder if it occurs to Thailand maybe Thai thought should be developed/translated/preserved in the same way as the food and clothing. A direct quote from the Tourism Authority of Thailand:

"This new advertising from TAT complies about Thailand is a state of peace and love, you could get warmth together. Let's share your nice hugging shot on our wall post to show how much you love Thailand."

The ad goes to show people hugging inanimate objects ...trees, boats...it cute, i guess. I dunno, i guess it would just be nice to see ONE example of people showing how they are affected, how they experience their lives. Maybe if they had a forum in which they could speak/paint/dance/express their mind, it would inspire people find a better way to bridge their differences...

Perhaps it would be valuable to give a voice to the people who felt there was no other alternative but to take to the streets. Maybe if there were more forums for communication, the people migh be more informed and less vulnerable to the lies and propaganda.

By telling people to just keep smiling in the face of change and uncertainty, aren't you pushing them further into that desperation, which inevitably turns into violence? I mean, people were protesting for WEEKS, and if you dared to ask a Thai what they thought about it, they would look at you as if you should be ashamed - how dare you ask them to speak against their people? Thai culture instills that a good citizen is one who "agrees" and "complies" and upholds the appearance of Happy Happy.

Perhaps if people were allowed to share and analyze their emotions and behavior, they would come to new solutions for handling new social and economic issues...

I don't know, maybe it all exists somewhere, but i can't find it, though to be fair, i should mention that there are few articles in the Bangkok Post (usually in the Leisure section) that might touch upon the issues...

But my larger point here is that i just think the people would get a lot more out of learning to hug one another, not just inanimate objects... and just maybe, somebody should be doing something to encourage that...