Adolph Hitler Removed From Pattaya

[george]

A very smart marketing trick by the museum. They got all the world media coverage they wanted, for cheap.

[HOOD Robin]

Nothing upset´s me anymore when it comes to Thai´s .. you just have to love them! 555

Little did i know about Thailand and Thai culture 10 years ago so how could they know about this .. told GF about Hitler , WWII etc. couple of years ago and she had never heard about it so dont blame Thai People , blame the regime!

How could she not know about it? WWII is part of thai history. Thais sided with the Japanese, Japan sided with Germany (Hitler) Has she never heard of the infamous Thai/Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai? We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Marsteele, you live in TH and you ask such a stupid question ? Don't you know that not even 50% of the Thai people don't even know about their OWN history !? And 90-95% never heard about Hitler and don't know about WW II.... How i know ? Because i lived for almost 1 year in Kanchanaburi... even there most of the Thai people don't understand albout all those historical sites ! They see all those many farangs who come there EVERY day just like other tourists who go to Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, etc.... They have not any clue that most of these tourists go there to visit those historical places

And who is to blame for that ? No, not the Thai people but their government, try to keep the people dumb in so many ways !!!

And EUH...... one more thing.... "Thais sided with Japanese" ?????????????

[Metalgear]

Facism brews from extreme nationalism....beware the rise of extreme right wing political party in Thailand.......Out goes dirty money politics and so called democratic capitalism and in comes extreme nationalism and facism in Thailand. So thats why HITLER is up on the bill boards, makes you wonder isn't it ?

[cutz]

Dumb decision, he's one of the most famous figures in history, good reason to have a wax carricature. It's unfortunate a few imbeciles can choose what the rest of us can and can't see. The museum just needs to ensure that his portayal is done in a tasteful manner, which the comment probably didn't do but that's an easy fix and doesn't require him removed.

It's odd that nazi sensitivity has grown with time rather than fallen, a sure sign people (you know who) are milking it.

I Can speak for europe THIS WELL never happend!!!! there are some people who need to read some historie!! about holocost!!! about milions of jude killed in the most unhumane way!!! children is being experimants for compleatly insane doctors!!! so read a copple of books!!!!!!!!!!!

Ridiculous thing is that you would likely have the same media uproar if this took place in the U.S. or Europe? What has happened to free speech. Let people make their own decisions. Have we no faith in humanity or we merely being being controlled through selective media.

Have you people failed to get this story??? It is NOT about the wax figure in the museum. It IS about the bad taste advertisement. The complaints were about the ad, NOT about the inclusion of the waxy Hitler at the museum. Of course an ad like that would never happen in the US; I can't speak for Europe.

People? What people. You know who? Are you afraid to be open about what you are saying?

[barry]

A very smart marketing trick by the museum. They got all the world media coverage they wanted, for cheap.

of course it remains to be seen whether people will show up and pay after this controversy

i'm sure there will be some boycotting

[HOOD Robin]

Hi.

I am German and had to suffer from the racism and neo-nazism in that country. It is one of the reasons i left Germany and vowed never to return again. However here in Thailand i am not the least bit offended by the Nazi-cult that shows at places - how often did i see motorbike riders wearing the "Wehrmacht" type helmet, complete with the swastika sticker (and the correct, Nazi, one - not the Hindu one!) or people wearing t-shirts with that same swastika and even the words "Sieg Heil" below it - they obviously have no clue at all what it means.

I once had a taxi driver ask me where i am from - they all do that, and usually after my "Germany" they come back with either "oh, Bundesliga!" or "oh, BMW!"..... but this guy came back with "oh, Germany... Adolf Hitler still your president? He good man!" I was kind of baffled.

And yesterday evening, when this story was on TV, my boyfriend (Thai) asked me seriously "why Jews complain about Hitler, did he do something bad..?" THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW IT!

But then - in Germany we didn't cover "Rama V" in History, either....... yet he (Rama V) didn't start a world war and killed millions in his home country at the same time, too.

Don't blame the Thais - blame their education system.

Kind regards.....

Thanh

Unfortunately you're right that the Nazi-cult also shows up in Thailand ! In my area there is a German pub where those guys are playing and singing nazi songs at night, of course when they are drunk.....

[crazyswede]

How could she not know about it? WWII is part of thai history. Thais sided with the Japanese, Japan sided with Germany (Hitler) Has she never heard of the infamous Thai/Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai? We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Really? I think, you should blame your gf....

My wive (also Thai) knows very well about Hitler and Nazis - learned at school in Thailand

To those of you who are Thai or have Thai Ladies that learned about this and many other things in school ... Congratulations , it only shows that not all Thai people have had the same upbringing and opportunity to learn in school thanks to the Thai School system i gues?!´

[Thai at Heart]

Nothing upset´s me anymore when it comes to Thai´s .. you just have to love them! 555

Little did i know about Thailand and Thai culture 10 years ago so how could they know about this .. told GF about Hitler , WWII etc. couple of years ago and she had never heard about it so dont blame Thai People , blame the regime!

How could she not know about it? WWII is part of thai history. Thais sided with the Japanese, Japan sided with Germany (Hitler) Has she never heard of the infamous Thai/Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai? We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Marsteele, you live in TH and you ask such a stupid question ? Don't you know that not even 50% of the Thai people don't even know about their OWN history !? And 90-95% never heard about Hitler and don't know about WW II.... How i know ? Because i lived for almost 1 year in Kanchanaburi... even there most of the Thai people don't understand albout all those historical sites ! They see all those many farangs who come there EVERY day just like other tourists who go to Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, etc.... They have not any clue that most of these tourists go there to visit those historical places

And who is to blame for that ? No, not the Thai people but their government, try to keep the people dumb in so many ways !!!

And EUH...... one more thing.... "Thais sided with Japanese" ?????????????

End of 1941 the Thai government entered a military alliance with the Japanese.

A war declaration was submitted by the Thai Ambassador in the UK in January 1942, the Thai Ambassador in the US refused to submit the same declaration in the US and tried/started to get a resistance movement up and running (Seri Thai) with the assistance of the US and later the UK.

In my opinion, split allegiances yes, but the government at the time in Thailand signed up with the Japanese. Whether the government in country supported the Japanese is debatable, since knowing what the Japanese could have done to the country at the time if there had been significant resistance, is not even worth considering.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Thai at Heart

[marsteele]

Nothing upset´s me anymore when it comes to Thai´s .. you just have to love them! 555

Little did i know about Thailand and Thai culture 10 years ago so how could they know about this .. told GF about Hitler , WWII etc. couple of years ago and she had never heard about it so dont blame Thai People , blame the regime!

How could she not know about it? WWII is part of thai history. Thais sided with the Japanese, Japan sided with Germany (Hitler) Has she never heard of the infamous Thai/Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai? We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Oh and that is taken from a Thai history book

Marsteele, you live in TH and you ask such a stupid question ? Don't you know that not even 50% of the Thai people don't even know about their OWN history !? And 90-95% never heard about Hitler and don't know about WW II.... How i know ? Because i lived for almost 1 year in Kanchanaburi... even there most of the Thai people don't understand albout all those historical sites ! They see all those many farangs who come there EVERY day just like other tourists who go to Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, etc.... They have not any clue that most of these tourists go there to visit those historical places

And who is to blame for that ? No, not the Thai people but their government, try to keep the people dumb in so many ways !!!

And EUH...... one more thing.... "Thais sided with Japanese" ?????????????

Yes Thais sided with the japanese..... a little clip from the history books

When war came, a hesitant Phibun was forced to order a general ceasefire and to allow the Japanese army to pass through the country. However, hesitancy gave way to enthusiasm when the Japanese blitzkrieged their way through Malaya. On December 12, 1941 a military alliance with Japan was concluded. A month later, on January 25, 1942, Thailand declared war on the United States and Great Britain. Those who opposed such a decision was forced from government; Pridi was appointed regent for the absent King Ananda Mahidol, while Direk became, ironically, ambassador to Japan.

Edited October 20, 2009 by marsteele

[TheUsernameIsAlreadyTaken]

Not dead?

But I see somebody has taken a baseball bat to his fingers.

Thats a start.

Great pic of the billboard and Hitler, why not replace it with G. W. Bush or E. Olmert???

[Jingthing]

A very smart marketing trick by the museum. They got all the world media coverage they wanted, for cheap.

I agree about the result but we can't really know if it was by design. In any case, there won't be any boycotts, they have a plausible excuse, the perception that Thais don't know from Nazis. In any case, compared to the balloon/attic boy family in America, they are bloody geniuses!

Edited October 20, 2009 by Jingthing

[PeaceBlondie]

Don't blame the Thais - blame their education system.

Interesting. Is there some other nationality in charge of the Thai education system?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK.

[rayong09]

Here you go "Somporn" the perfect replacement for you:

[h90]

Don't blame the Thais - blame their education system.

Interesting. Is there some other nationality in charge of the Thai education system?

No-one is in charge, as it seems.

[midasthailand]

Knowing the American education system there are a few Americans who do not know about Hitler.

O, there were more Thais killed and who died building the death railroad than allied soliders, they don't have graves

Whilst it is off topic, I thought I should correct your statement regarding deaths during the construction of the Thai/Burma railway. More Asians were killed during the construction than allied POW's, most of the Asians were Malaysians who were offered paid work by the Imperial Japanese Army, transported by train to Thailand and then treated as slaves without pay. Very few Thais were killed at the hands of the Japanese, in fact you will be pleased to know that the Thais in the vicinity of the Death railway took significant personal risks to try and feed the POW's and Sir Weary Dunlop (VC) went to great pains to tell the world about the generosity and bravery of the Thai people that assisted him in keeping alive many of the seriously ill POW's.

Thailand is very proud of the fact that it has never been "conquered" but given the alternative, they had little choice but to allow free passage to the Japanese army.

[Thai at Heart]

We have obviously reached the lowest level in debate in the history of TV. Thankyou whoever removed that.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Thai at Heart

[PawyiLee]

... We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Ubon Ratchathani's Candlestick park has a monument erected by former POWs in gratitude for their treatment at the hands of the the Thai in Ubon. If all you know of the death-railway bridge comes from the Frenchman's highly distorted version, go ogle up English Lt. Col. Philip John Denton Toosey, Thai Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu, and Japanese Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito.

[brianb1944]

Nothing upset´s me anymore when it comes to Thai´s .. you just have to love them! 555

Little did i know about Thailand and Thai culture 10 years ago so how could they know about this .. told GF about Hitler , WWII etc. couple of years ago and she had never heard about it so dont blame Thai People , blame the regime!

How could she not know about it? WWII is part of thai history. Thais sided with the Japanese, Japan sided with Germany (Hitler) Has she never heard of the infamous Thai/Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai? We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

I never heard that the Thai Kingdom was Japanese Ally before, have never seen any reference to Allied troops fighting Thai troops?? My father fought in the SE Asian theatre, and he never mentioned Thai. I will check further, but I suspect its someone huffing and puffing

[Jockey]

"The AP reports that the waxwork museum also covered up the poster, which carried the slogan "Hitler is not dead", after receiving complaints from the Israeli and German embassies."

Really? How about the world complaining about the way Israelis are imprisoning Palestinians in Gaza the same way the Nazis imprisoned Jews in the Warsaw ghetto? The Israelis are the new Nazi's.

[Jingthing]

"The AP reports that the waxwork museum also covered up the poster, which carried the slogan "Hitler is not dead", after receiving complaints from the Israeli and German embassies."

Really? How about the world complaining about the way Israelis are imprisoning Palestinians in Gaza the same way the Nazis imprisoned Jews in the Warsaw ghetto? The Israelis are the new Nazi's.

Excuse me, but is it possible for a political leader or government to do bad things without being compared to Hitler and the Nazis? And BTW, talking about Middle east politics is totally off topic to this thread.

[webfact]

Topic title: Adolph Hitler Removed From Pattaya

We are not discussing a topic about WWII or the construction of the Thailand/Burma Railway during Japanese occupation nor do we discuss the Italian Mafia.

Please stay on topic

[AleG]

I have a good friend whose Polish mother barely escaped being imprisoned or taken to a camp by the Nazis. As such, it is a soft spot her.

When I first came to Thailand, she and her husband had just moved here as well. She always got mad and raved about it in private after she'd see Thai people wearing t-shirts with the swastika on them. "Don't they know what it means?!" she would yell. It was not until later that I realized the Nazis had stolen the symbol from Eastern religions, basically, and it was a widely known symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism to represent universal harmony, among other things. These days, many in the East continue to use the symbol as it has long been used and rightly so.

Just goes to show some of the differences between Asian and Western culture. In the case of this story, it shows how far removed Thais are from emotional reactions to Nazi Germany and Hitler. But it's good they're removing the statue.

I've seen some idiots, if you'd excuse my lack of delicacy, wearing shirts with unmistakably Nazi swastikas. Black cross over white on top of red background, no ancient Asian symbolism here.

I've also seen a rather amusing decal on a motorbike, of a Hello Kitty with a little mustache, right arm stretched high and a "Heil Kitty" text bellow. I have to say that was actually quite funny.

[thaijasmine]

The complaints were not about including the wax figure at the museum. The complaints were about the offensive advertisement which was indeed in extremely poor taste.

Its not poor taste at all .

"Hitler is not dead" could mean he lives on in the form of President Amedinajad - although

i can understand why you would not like that Jingthing

[Huey]

Dumb decision, he's one of the most famous figures in history, good reason to have a wax carricature. It's unfortunate a few imbeciles can choose what the rest of us can and can't see. The museum just needs to ensure that his portayal is done in a tasteful manner, which the comment probably didn't do but that's an easy fix and doesn't require him removed.

It's odd that nazi sensitivity has grown with time rather than fallen, a sure sign people (you know who) are milking it.

Ridiculous thing is that you would likely have the same media uproar if this took place in the U.S. or Europe? What has happened to free speech. Let people make their own decisions. Have we no faith in humanity or we merely being being controlled through selective media.

Probably a bunch of Jews complaining is my guess. Funny thing is how they've gone and done basically the same thing with Palestine, albeit in a more politically correct and less brutal manner.

Exactly,

But when they start playing games with the truth of history that's where it needs to stop. How can you celebrate history without understanding the struggle? Without knowing what those who came before you sacrificed to give you what you have today???...and certainly without knowing the alternative of what could have been. Hitler is that ugly ass alternative and folks should really know about it. Bastards the whole lot of them who got it removed.

If I could go back in time I would have taken a skit from Dave Chapplle and done something like this to Hitler....

But to remove him from mueseams and advertisements for other educational places like that is DEAD WRONG and asking for it to happen again. If any thing you would think hard core zionists would want it there to once again, let world know what Hitler was all about, and how they suffered.

[kriswillems]

double post

Edited October 20, 2009 by kriswillems

[Jingthing]

The complaints were not about including the wax figure at the museum. The complaints were about the offensive advertisement which was indeed in extremely poor taste.

Its not poor taste at all .

"Hitler is not dead" could mean he lives on in the form of President Amedinajad - although

i can understand why you would not like that Jingthing

Your opinion noted. It is not poor taste. It may not be to Thai people but I would bet you some serious shekels that most western foreigners would find it was in very poor taste indeed.

Huey

But to remove him from mueseams and advertisements for other educational places like that is DEAD WRONG and asking for it to happen again. If any thing you would think hard core zionists would want it there to once again, let world know what Hitler was all about, and how they suffered.

Back to reality. The bad taste ad as was removed. The wax figure was not removed. A wax museum is not a real museum in the educational sense. What you are talking about are real museums and holocaust museums with real information provided. Of course Zionists (the Z is capitalized) and others interested in the truth about history would be in favor of those.

Here is some info for you:

http://www.ushmm.org/

BTW, the Nazis did not only exterminate Jews.

During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Jingthing

[kriswillems]

When I saw the picture and read the text "Hilter didn't die yet", it was clear to me the designer had either very little knowledge of history or a very bad taste. I expected that the picture wouldn't stay there long ....

For me they didn't have to remove the statue, only the text on the advertisement should be changed. Saying Hitler didn't die yet, is just 'not done'.

It's important to have some general knowledge about history and culture when you make advertisement. If we would use the picture of the Thai king in product advertisement, either in a positive or negative context, Thai people would also be angry.

Edited October 20, 2009 by kriswillems

[mrtoad]

The complaints were not about including the wax figure at the museum. The complaints were about the offensive advertisement which was indeed in extremely poor taste.

Its not poor taste at all .

"Hitler is not dead" could mean he lives on in the form of President Amedinajad - although

i can understand why you would not like that Jingthing

I actually believe that one of the British tabloids reported that he had flown to the moon, and had a picture to prove it.

[baht&sold]

A very smart marketing trick by the museum. They got all the world media coverage they wanted, for cheap.

of course it remains to be seen whether people will show up and pay after this controversy

i'm sure there will be some boycotting

Looks like a case of unplanned 'viral marketing' whereby everyone from news sites to social networking sites willingly pass it along due shock or sensation 'value'. Many websites also thrive on such fodder or 'infotainment'. Makes for great page clicks and produces a lot of extra ad sponsors revenue from 'page impressions' (whether viewers actually click any banners or not, or whether sponsors approve of content or not;)

It was reported last week that the billboard company received complaints from both the German and Israel Ambassadors along with hundreds of calls before covering Adolf over. All in all, a 'successful' campaign for the wax museum (and others;)

[ryladie99]

Nothing upset´s me anymore when it comes to Thai´s .. you just have to love them! 555

Little did i know about Thailand and Thai culture 10 years ago so how could they know about this .. told GF about Hitler , WWII etc. couple of years ago and she had never heard about it so dont blame Thai People , blame the regime!

Thai people are very free and positive about the way they see the world, they are so easyt about their lives, and you Farangs who live in Thailand many years should know better...Just tell the Thai and let them know about your hurtful feeling. After that they will do the appropriate action for you...

After 911 incident I got a call from my Thai friend who wanted to send me Bin Laden Tee shirts. She said they sold them in the markets...I was not too happy about this but, could not laugh so hard about her well intention, she really meant no harm just want to give me stuffs...after I explained to her she apologized

and felt so bad. I knew she did not mean no harm...well that is my take and opinion.

Opp I forgot to add about my story when I was young living in Thailand..we had neighbors who lived around us practicing different religions. The Muslim gentleman near by had 2 wives and they went to the Mosque and we heard they called their members to pray every week. They also invited everyone to see their beautiful Mosque. One Thai policeman had 3 wives but, his women lived far apart from each others. The two Avantist old maids never worked on Sunday because they went to church and rested the rest of their day, but, the Thai police attended the Buddhist temple almost every 2 weeks. Plus I saw the family cooked lunch for ther monks as well. The Farang Canadian was a Catholic who always laoned my dad his old truck when my dad needed it. We did not attend the same church with him but, my dad and him got along so well. My dad always avoided the Protestant church function except my Mom who made sure her children never missed any...including myself. The Chinese merchant lived down the road. He went to the Chinese temple with his family on and off. He was so kind to let my family seeing the Grand Opera during his temple festival....without paying the fancy price.We got food from him during Chinese New year, and my Mom baked him her famous cake during a Thai New Year.

We all lived near by each others, our town had many Buddhist temples,a mosque, chinese temples, a Catholic worship place, a Protestant church, a Seven day avantist church, the worship buildings all closed by, and no harm done. I had the best of life, and experience as such...

I never think negative about others' religion until I heard several hateful comments toward others' belief when I was in America...and traveled around the world....Well I did ask the Thai about WWII and their feeling toward Japanese people. They knew about WWII and Hitler. They just forgave about what happened...I never saw any hostile toward Japanese or German tourists or Japan as a country... Most Thais I have known were very kind and peace in nature except the bad Thais who cheated tourists and did sell drug on the streets...or muged, stole, and robbed Farangs. In another sense to these bad guys they were conducting their bad business deal not personal. I really did not understand them at all. ( shamed )

This is my personal opinion and I stand tall.