“Nazism” In Chiang Mai
After my previous postNazi knick-knacks in Pattaya“another incident of playing with clothes and other attributes of Nazi Germany. The news about this has rightly made it to the world press.
Of interest is an editorial by Sanitsuda Ekachai, editor of the Bangkok Post, reproduced below in translation:
Nazism in our brainwashed upbringing
Who isn't shocked to see teenage girls gaily dressed up in full Nazi regalia, dressing up as Adolf Hitler and SS guards to celebrate their sports day, completely unaware that they are also honoring the world's greatest murderers, who killed six million murdered Jews in government-sponsored ethnic cleansing during World War II?
What would the girls think now?
What would their teachers think now?
The news reports and photos of the Nazi-themed parade of the students of the Sacred Heart School in Chiang Mai have rightly shocked and angered many.
Several embassies have voiced protests, as has the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization. The school, clearly shaken by the international outcry, has rightly and quickly issued a serious apology.
According to the school, the girls had no bad intentions at all. They were just completely unaware of the sensitivity or lack thereof.
I believe that.
The school also said that the teachers were not aware of the Nazi parade in advance because it is a tradition for the students to keep the theme a secret until the day of the parade.
I don't believe that at all.
Pictures on the internet showed the school buildings were decorated with huge swastika flags and a three-story banner showed a fiery red image of Hitler and his look-a-like caricatures, giving the “Sieg Heil” salute, with another splashy and bold image of the word “Nazism”.
Getting this paraphernalia in place requires preparation. How could the school management and teachers not know what was about to happen? So why blame the kids alone?
When a group of expatriate parents and teachers – according to the news reports – expressed their bewilderment and disapproval of the school, they were once again stunned to learn that Thai teachers failed to see that such a Nazi theme was offensive.
With red as the theme color, some have suggested a conspiracy theory, politically motivated to warn of what was to come with the return of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Conspiracy or not, the insensitivity of the chosen theme among the Thai teachers is extraordinary.
How did this apathy come about?
If it is a matter of ignorance, it can be remedied by some history lessons about the holocaust. Or is the problem deeper than that?
What happened at Sacred Heart School has nothing to do with the poor quality of our history lessons.
For starters, I don't think the adults who knew about the Nazi-themed parade were ignorant of the Holocaust. However, they do not realize the danger of militarism and fascism. Neither can feel the pain of the many victims.
They are not bad people. But citizens who have grown up in a country where toddlers are taught to march like soldiers, male high school students are forced to cut their hair as if they were Marines, and where a coup d'état is more or less unimpressed, many have accepted militarism as part of life.
The political indoctrination of education to promote ultra-nationalism based on the supremacy of the Thai race is also a bad thing. It makes people believe that Thailand is a racially homogeneous country of ethnic Thais and that is a false image. The soldier is over-glorified as a defender of the Thai and any form of violence against 'the other' is justified.
This is why the predominantly Buddhist Thai society cannot empathize with the suffering of Malay Muslims in the Deep South, even though nearly 5.000 people have died.
It is also why the systematic abuse of the hill tribes and migrant workers has never led to public outcry against ethnic discrimination, effectively condoning the abuses.
If we don't feel the pain of the victims of communal violence close to home, what should we feel for victims elsewhere in the distant past?
Instead of guilt-tripping Sacred Heart students and teachers, perhaps we should even thank them by holding up a mirror to our society's militarism and lack of empathy.
If we don't like what we see, then we need to do something to stop the systematic brainwashing that makes us heartless.
Translated from the September 29, 2011 Bangkok Post by Gringo
The performance of the school board is really crazy for words. Especially the excuse that they didn't know that this point is so sensitive.
There have been incidents of Nazi expressions in Thailand several times. In short, this is not the first time. I can assume that the teachers at this school follow the news? If not, you may wonder if they are capable of teaching.
Teachers who know nothing about the Holocaust? I would pick up my kids from that school the same day.
yes, they don't know history in Thailand, my girlfriend recently came with a Tshirt from Adolf Hitler, I asked her if she was crazy arranged? the answer was hers, what's wrong with it, this is charlie chaplin, I have nothing more said, was speechless at the time
Maybe she'd seen Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator?
you can't get a pin in here!
also read the good comments from columnist Voronai Vanijaka in today's Bangkok post October 2nd. Maybe a good translator can post here somewhere
The writer can also look closer. During my holidays in Thailand, I noticed that a large part does not know who Pol Pot was and what he did, in the neighboring country, of all things.
This is really too sad for words. Can you see how bad it is with education in Thailand. That they don't even know who Pol Pot is/was!
Or is it really all about Sanuk and Sabai and that they prefer to hide those kinds of events.
Thai people I know hardly know anything about neighbors or other countries anyway. Just ask them about Indonesia, Phillipines or Malaysia or Vietnam and you will probably know more about it yourself.
That's what you get when there are only comedians and soap operas on TV.
I tried to explain to my girlfriend that people have been on the moon. A week later, when the TV came on, she was still saying, my teerack, you ting tong.
@KhunPeter
Abject as this incident is, I am more concerned about a growing trend in Europe, particularly England, where certain schools are reluctant to talk about the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students…
Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government-backed study has revealed.
It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial
Lees meer: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-445979/Teachers-drop-Holocaust-avoid-offending-Muslims.html
At the Sunday junk and electronics market in China Town BKK there is a family that very openly propagandizes Nazism WITH red flags, as if nothing is wrong. If you ask them about this, you have to be careful not to overwhelm the environment. My wife stopped me there on the spot to point out to people the offensive character and the racist regime because she didn't want me to get into trouble... So no, it's not that innocent and they know very well what they are doing. . Besides, what the children do is what they have learned at home and elsewhere. During the years that I have lived in Thailand, I have been confronted several times with statements such as: Hey You farang, you can not sit here, this onlye for Thai people…….
@Khun Dirk: I too have been verbally humiliated by Thais a few times. They (not all) feel superior to a “falang”. I thought the word "farang" would be more accurate. In a certain restaurant in Hua Hin, a yellowed framed photo of the “fürher” and his Volkswagen hangs nicely in view when you leave the restaurant. When asked, they said this was their example. I was scared of a monkey. Was it to do that Volkswagen or else I don't know. I never went back there because they worked with double menus, one for the "falang" and one for the Thais.
Correct id. A Farang has to pay the price on average X3. E.g. An ice cream costs 10 Bath. Farang had to pay 30 B, although the sales price is very clearly stated. Take it or leave it…
I wonder where that is. Never heard anything about that even from my German friends in Hua Hin. I don't think Adolf had a Volkswagen, but a Mercedes.
Hitler did indeed let himself be driven around in a Mercedes, with bulletproof steel and glass.
The Volkswagen Beetle (hence the name Volksauto) was already developed pre-war on behalf of Hitler, it had to be cheap to purchase and use.
Large-scale production only started after the war, the CV2 more or less started its advance in a similar way at the time. so I suspect that poster may have been propaganda material, and perhaps original.
He clearly showed himself in a Volkswagen Convertible, this in response to the promotional stunt: “a car for the people”
During the war years he usually showed up. in a Mercedes.
@Hans Bos: Just go to the old fishing port. Right, towards the temple, first big restaurant, I don't know the name, you only see the pictures when you leave the resto.
Hope those pictures are still there.
I'll go back and see if they're still there.
Dear Wally,
Indeed. there are “farangs” who misbehave, but not only in Thailand. Because of the intolerable behavior of some boozers, whom you have probably encountered in the red light districts, where many "farangs" indulge in excessive drinking and girls of pleasure. Because why do those guys come to Thailand on holiday? Just to go wild and insult the local people here, which is what they do in their country of origin.
But if you build a life here as a farang and have a very good relationship with your neighbors, you will not behave as you have experienced them in the places of destruction.
No Thai wishes me ill, yet the problem comes as I mentioned that “some Thai” always try to roll you. That is why I sometimes post actual situations on the blog to inform the farangs with good intentions about what can happen. I hope you now understand that the relationship here is very good, except for some bad situations. I advise you to look for better places for your next vacation, because Thailand offers more. Good luck with it.
In Chinatown I have also seen various products with swastikas on them. I just kept walking because it's not my job to say anything about that.
Also have an internet friend from Mexico City who collects such stuff. Why is not clear to me, but he likes it and has never been to Germany or Europe.
Boy, that scares me. A restaurant in Hua Hin that reveres Adolf Hitler!!
In addition, different prices apply. I personally have not experienced anything like this in all of Thailand. It does make you think and you better keep your head down.
I think in the original version the legs of the swastika are reversed.
IDD the legs left right is a monkey story. On the site below a lot of info about the Swastika, I still regularly come across India, especially at factories and semi-government.
http://reclaimtheswastika.com/
Well, not quite a monkey: “Left-facing” and “right-facing” are used mostly consistently referring to the upper arm of an upright swastika facing either to the viewer's left (卍) or right (卐). The other two descriptions are ambiguous as it is unclear whether they refer to the arms as leading or being dragged or whether their bending is viewed outward or inward. However, "clockwise" usually refers to the "right-facing" swastika. The terms are used inconsistently (sometimes even by the same writer), which is confusing and may obfuscate an important point, that the rotation of the swastika may have symbolic relevance, although little is known about this symbolic relevance. Less ambiguous terms might be “clockwise-pointing” and “counterclockwise-pointing.”
Nazi ensigns had a through and through image, so both versions were present, one on each side, but the Nazi flag on land was right-facing on both sides and at a 45° rotation.[6]
The name “sauwastika” is sometimes given to the left-facing form of the swastika (卍).[7]
Look on Wikipedia and read that the Hindu legs of the swastika point the other way. Better stolen badly than well conceived, Adolf must have thought.
Does anyone know if Anne Frank's Diary has been translated into Thai? Should be required reading for every Thai student. Better than a 'boring' history lesson.
'khan thyg khong Enn Frengk' is the name of the book in Thai. It has been translated, but don't ask me how it is put in the Thai alphabet.
Hahahaha “They didn't just mean it, they didn't know any better”
That is the worst excuse the school could give…. didn't they teach those kids anything from ergo those kids didn't know any better?
I would immediately take my child out of that school, not because of the Nazi uniforms, but because apparently it is a school that makes mindless kids.
Chang Noi
perhaps a few more hours of history at school and explaining the dangers of extremism might help
@ The blog rules are clear to everyone. As soon as one gets too personal or offensive, the reaction goes into the trash.