I can tell you this right now that nobody at the school had any idea what costumes the students would wear until the day of the event, except for the students and the one or two teachers assigned to help them plan it. I know this is true because it's the same at any school I've ever worked at. Sports day is a big deal and all details are kept secret from everyone.

As for what the students know, I'm sure they know of Hitler and that he was the leader of Germany during WWII, but that's where it ends. WWII means very little to them except for what happened with the Japanese in their own country. Why should they know what happened to the Jews during WWII? Awful though it was, it has little to do with them. All you western people I'm sure know that many Allied troops died in Kanchanaburi, but how many know that 10 times more Thais died? Probably very few I'd imagine, why? because you didn't learn about that at school, as it had very little to do with the countries you all come from, well it works both ways I'm afraid.

Bottom line, it's just one of those misunderstandings that happen sometimes, get over it. The students didn't know any better, and perhaps the 1-2 teachers that did know, wouldn't have known the students would wear those costumes until it happened.

Approximately 7,600 Thais died in WW2. 16,000 allied troops on the Burma railway alone. If you are going to lecture us all get your facts straight.

Get yours right then, according to official figures about 12,500 allies died + 80,000-90,000 asians, pehaps not all thai but still. Figures change depending on which site you look at. You're missing the point though, most westerners don't even know that amount of asians/Thais died there too.

On topic, the kids didn't know, and neither did the teachers. Just let them know so it doen't happen next time.

This is very strange and is smacks of total ignorance of WWII history and Nazi Germany. Don't these teachers read? If I am not mistaken, this is NOT the first time it has happened in Thailand.

I am not surprised we had the same Nazi day when I was teaching at Bangkok Christian College 3 years ago where Thai teachers were doing the nazi salute next to students dressed up as Hitler and SS guards. The lack of cultural awareness is amazing especially when you consider that our lack of cultural awareness here could land us up in jail for doing something or saying something that would be culturally acceptable in the UK. Amazingly ignorant Thailand, bless them!

This thread is a conduit of hatred. ...

Speak for yourself, mate.

I do my best to reflect the gentle tolerance of the ignorant and complacent.

When confronted by the idiocy of ignorant buffoons, or the incensed rantings of opinionated moral outrage, can we achieve more by abusing those opinions, or by offering opinions more moderate, that others may see the foolishness in comparison (including their own)?

SC

Whenever someone has said "You need to ..." I have invariably disagreed.

I can tell you this right now that nobody at the school had any idea what costumes the students would wear until the day of the event, except for the students and the one or two teachers assigned to help them plan it. I know this is true because it's the same at any school I've ever worked at. Sports day is a big deal and all details are kept secret from everyone.

As for what the students know, I'm sure they know of Hitler and that he was the leader of Germany during WWII, but that's where it ends. WWII means very little to them except for what happened with the Japanese in their own country. Why should they know what happened to the Jews during WWII? Awful though it was, it has little to do with them. All you western people I'm sure know that many Allied troops died in Kanchanaburi, but how many know that 10 times more Thais died? Probably very few I'd imagine, why? because you didn't learn about that at school, as it had very little to do with the countries you all come from, well it works both ways I'm afraid.

Bottom line, it's just one of those misunderstandings that happen sometimes, get over it. The students didn't know any better, and perhaps the 1-2 teachers that did know, wouldn't have known the students would wear those costumes until it happened.

Approximately 7,600 Thais died in WW2. 16,000 allied troops on the Burma railway alone. If you are going to lecture us all get your facts straight.

Get yours right then, according to official figures about 12,500 allies died + 80,000-90,000 asians, pehaps not all thai but still. Figures change depending on which site you look at. You're missing the point though, most westerners don't even know that amount of asians/Thais died there too.

On topic, the kids didn't know, and neither did the teachers. Just let them know so it doen't happen next time.

Not all Thai? 42,000 malayan, 40,000 burmese, 2900 Javanese and 500 Singaporean to be exact. Hell of a lot more than the 7600 Thais that made up the total number of deaths for the entire country for the entire war.

Approximately 7,600 Thais died in WW2. 16,000 allied troops on the Burma railway alone. If you are going to lecture us all get your facts straight.

Get yours right then, according to official figures about 12,500 allies died + 80,000-90,000 asians, pehaps not all thai but still. Figures change depending on which site you look at. You're missing the point though, most westerners don't even know that amount of asians/Thais died there too.

On topic, the kids didn't know, and neither did the teachers. Just let them know so it doen't happen next time.

The official/accepted figures for Thai deaths as a result WWII, which lasted 6-years, is 7600.

To put this in perspective; the first 6-years of the last decade saw over 76,000 Thais died in motor vehicle accidents.

This thread is a conduit of hatred. We all know what took place. We should not have to put up reminders of arguments of what took place. TV is not the place for this diatribe.

I guess this settles everything, then? Ok, we'll all log off now and hit the sack dreaming of dancing sugarplums. Well ... dancing fill-in-the-blank ... anyway.

I thought TV was about expats living in Thailand. The Thai educational system is of concern. But this thread brings up expat anger. There are a lot of expats here on both sides of the fence that I think feel equally bad about what took place in World War I and II. So lets focus on fixing the problems and educating the Thai educators. Some people love to hate but I am not one of them.

It's sad that these children had no idea of the implications of these costumes, nor were aware of the acts committed by the Nazis. But we should ask ourselves, before we condemn the Thai educational system, how many secondary school pupils in the UK or anywhere in the west are aware for example of the Japanese actions in China throughout the 1930s?.

Also. the original report was in the Daily Wail! Try this:www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail

"how many secondary school pupils in the UK or anywhere in the west are aware for example of the Japanese actions in China throughout the 1930s?"

Probably none. Even in the US today, the kids are unaware of the atrocities the Japanese caused in WWII. As far as back in the '30's, none. If it isn't about Lady Gaga, they don't know squat. AND, they don't care.

I wouldn't disagree with either of these comments, but the teachers ought to know, right?

Approximately 7,600 Thais died in WW2. 16,000 allied troops on the Burma railway alone. If you are going to lecture us all get your facts straight.

Get yours right then, according to official figures about 12,500 allies died + 80,000-90,000 asians, pehaps not all thai but still. Figures change depending on which site you look at. You're missing the point though, most westerners don't even know that amount of asians/Thais died there too.

On topic, the kids didn't know, and neither did the teachers. Just let them know so it doen't happen next time.

The official/accepted figures for Thai deaths as a result WWII, which lasted 6-years, is 7600.

To put this in perspective; the first 6-years of the last decade saw over 76,000 Thais died in motor vehicle accidents.

To be honest, I find that 7,600 figure a bit - hard to believe - but I accept that Thailand may have benefited substantially from being an ally and not an occupied territory, despite what Pinewood and Hollywood might have us believe.

SC

Who really gives a sh@t?

Although anyone with any knowledge of Thais and their culture certainly know there was no ill intent by the kids, why give a sh@t even if it turned out to be a racist school who sees Hitler as a hero. There are nut bag groups all over the world and there isn't a day that goes by in the US somebody isn't (including local governments) isn't flying a confederate flag or there isn't somebody wearing nazi gear or putting on a white hooded sheet. So many people here scream about censorship and lack of freedom of speech in Thailand but these same people are outraged now because they don't agree with freedom of speech if it goes against their claimed principles (which usually always happen to work to condemn Thais as a whole for incidents of a few).

Who really gives a rat's @ss if Thailand teaches WWI or WWII history (can't teach one properly without the other) and the effects it had on other nations and people. As Ali said re: the Vietnam war; "No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger" and I'm sure Thais can say something very similar about the Nazis. Truth be told, Thais don't teach too much about war, especially those in the last century, in low school period ... and this may be a good thing. We can learn all we want about the past but history always has a way of repeating itself and people always seem to find a way of using the past to improve methods of killing and control.

The bottom line is the majority of posters here claiming some true insult by this incident are full of it and simply just latching onto another excuse to slam Thais because of their own feelings of inadequacy & insecurities here. Based on the ease in which some condemn an entire nation of people, I would be surprised to find that many of the posters feigning outrage here are not themselves bigots and racists who speak negatively of Jews.

Is this a news worthy event? Of course it is but certainly nothing for anyone to get worked up about if the context is explained and there is an awareness of Thai culture. Probably why the story has not really gone global even though the likes of Fox and others love to slant any story to get people worked up.

It went global

Because it was in the Daily Mail?

http://www.google.co...iw=1366&bih=615

No. Because it got outside Thailand to the rest of the world. If it hits Drudge, it'll go solar system.

As an aside - do posters realise that the "Swastika" and the Thai greeting come from the same root?

"Sa-was -dee - khap"

check the Thai spelling

I'm glad that's finally settled. The obvious resemblance had cost me a lot of sleep lately.

It explains the connection - sanskrit(??) - an artificially introduced greeting and the symbol used by the Nazis

Why knowing the history of Nazi's is so important ...

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Shades-of-1930s-in-intimidation-30164449.html

So, we can get the nut jobs out there to get emotional about anything by simply accusing anyone we don't like as being similar to a Nazi or Nazi movement.

So what?

Remember, these were just kids with costumes and plastic machine guns right?

Just like western kids might dress like ninjas or samurais.

would it be different if they dressed as Japanese suicide pilots? or Napoleontic armymen? Or American bomber pilots?

Whose history matters most?

This nazi-stigma and the perpetuation of guild-feelings is not part of Thai history and very rightly so. That's why perhaps only the expat parents at school took offence.

The past is the past in Thailand (that's why their historians suck) and perhaps we should learn from that.

It's been 3 generations since the Nazis, isn't it time to get over it??

you really don't geddit? - it's the ignorance of the significance of Naziism in modern history that is so disturbing which has been sso clearly demonstrated by this "fancy dress" parade. In fact your election of "dress ups" shows you just don't understand.

It's sad that these children had no idea of the implications of these costumes, nor were aware of the acts committed by the Nazis. But we should ask ourselves, before we condemn the Thai educational system, how many secondary school pupils in the UK or anywhere in the west are aware for example of the Japanese actions in China throughout the 1930s?.

Also. the original report was in the Daily Wail! Try this:www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail

but the thais are also not told about what the japanese did to thailand during wwII too , its brushed under the carpet so they can believe they are such a strong country that has never been conquered , ........time to tell the whole truth and nothing but me thinks,............. a thai teacher once told me that this is not taught in thai schools because the students would be 'angry' towards the japanese,................boo hoo !

Japan didn't conquer Thailand. Why would they teach this now if it wasn't considered to be the case when it was happening. Japan attempted to invade Thailand but after a few hours a mutual agreement was worked out between both countries. Thailand actually gained land during the war and was able to avoid the same problems and fate of other enemy countries after the war.

ok,.if you say so,... i mean thailand was so strong that they stood up to the japanese invasion right ? hmmm.... the thais fought japan at chumphon for a few hours then gave in to their demands,........all but conquered in reality you could say, phibun singed a defence pact under duress, so much so that pridi resigned and later took up a non political role to appease his side of 'regent 'in the absence of ananda mahidol , ........... you can call it what you want, but does'nt sound much like they won , though eventually they did profit from the war .most historians say, they had a choice,....... do as we say or you get wiped of the face of the earth ! japan could do as they wished in thailand , they ruled it .......FACT

<br />

<br />Sorry to say, there is no getting away from the insecure doom and gloom brigade. They seem to find there way into every corner of the world,  even in a country as mellow and easy going as Thailand.

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I'm tired of it now, as you say they are everywhere, they could have dressed as red indians and someone would have found fault,  I came here to get away from it but it seems theres no escape.<br />

There is an escape from it. Don't click on the post. Easy.

Approximately 7,600 Thais died in WW2. 16,000 allied troops on the Burma railway alone. If you are going to lecture us all get your facts straight.

Get yours right then, according to official figures about 12,500 allies died + 80,000-90,000 asians, pehaps not all thai but still. Figures change depending on which site you look at. You're missing the point though, most westerners don't even know that amount of asians/Thais died there too.

On topic, the kids didn't know, and neither did the teachers. Just let them know so it doen't happen next time.

The official/accepted figures for Thai deaths as a result WWII, which lasted 6-years, is 7600.

To put this in perspective; the first 6-years of the last decade saw over 76,000 Thais died in motor vehicle accidents.

this sort of argument is totally facile - if you compare road deaths in many countries to war fatalities the road deaths come out on top - so not only do you not understand the issues burt you don't realise how road deaths compare to war fatalities around the world - check US for a start.

This thread is a conduit of hatred. We all know what took place. We should not have to put up reminders of arguments of what took place. TV is not the place for this diatribe.

Arguing WHAT took place is to miss the point - the issue s are how and why it took place.

Repetitions of this can only be avoided by studying those aspects any fool can relate stats figures about a war, bit that's not what history is about...or should it be.

So what?

Remember, these were just kids with costumes and plastic machine guns right?

Just like western kids might dress like ninjas or samurais.

would it be different if they dressed as Japanese suicide pilots? or Napoleontic armymen? Or American bomber pilots?

Whose history matters most?

This nazi-stigma and the perpetuation of guild-feelings is not part of Thai history and very rightly so. That's why perhaps only the expat parents at school took offence.

The past is the past in Thailand (that's why their historians suck) and perhaps we should learn from that.

It's been 3 generations since the Nazis, isn't it time to get over it??

you really don't geddit? - it's the ignorance of the significance of Naziism in modern history that is so disturbing which has been sso clearly demonstrated by this "fancy dress" parade. In fact your election of "dress ups" shows you just don't understand.

I don;t really think that the German National Socialist party was the greatest villain of the twentieth century in terms of numbers killed or wickedness. However, they were the losers in the war fought by the most people. And also, as I said earlier, the most horrific aspect is how much they were like ourselves. Try all we can to distance ourselves from them, they were not hutus or whatever other uncivilised darkies, they were not the fiendishly clever Japanese, they were ordinary christians like you or me. THat, to my mind, is what is so abhorrent. It is not a question of how can we stop them doing it again, it is a question of making sure that we do not do it again.

SC

Thank goodness for guiness!

It's sad that these children had no idea of the implications of these costumes, nor were aware of the acts committed by the Nazis. But we should ask ourselves, before we condemn the Thai educational system, how many secondary school pupils in the UK or anywhere in the west are aware for example of the Japanese actions in China throughout the 1930s?.

Also. the original report was in the Daily Wail! Try this:www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail

but the thais are also not told about what the japanese did to thailand during wwII too , its brushed under the carpet so they can believe they are such a strong country that has never been conquered , ........time to tell the whole truth and nothing but me thinks,............. a thai teacher once told me that this is not taught in thai schools because the students would be 'angry' towards the japanese,................boo hoo !

Japan didn't conquer Thailand. Why would they teach this now if it wasn't considered to be the case when it was happening. Japan attempted to invade Thailand but after a few hours a mutual agreement was worked out between both countries. Thailand actually gained land during the war and was able to avoid the same problems and fate of other enemy countries after the war.

ok,.if you say so,... i mean thailand was so strong that they stood up to the japanese invasion right ? hmmm.... the thais fought japan at chumphon for a few hours then gave in to their demands,........all but conquered in reality you could say, phibun singed a defence pact under duress, so much so that pridi resigned and later took up a non political role to appease his side of 'regent 'in the absence of ananda mahidol , ........... you can call it what you want, but does'nt sound much like they won , though eventually they did profit from the war .most historians say, they had a choice,....... do as we say or you get wiped of the face of the earth ! japan could do as they wished in thailand , they ruled it .......FACT

You can talk about winning (nobody claimed this) all you want but the bottom line is Thailand was not conquered by Japan. Countries make pacts and mutually rewarding agreements all the time to avoid war or halt conflict ... both Japan and Thailand benefited from their agreement.

Few more Pics of the sports day from Prachatai:

http://www.prachatai.com/journal/2011/09/37093

Lots of banners draped over the school, I guess the teachers must have had some warning what was coming...

Before her Alzheiners took hold, my wife's mother used to tell me stories about Japanese soldiers that would stop by their house (Ayuuttaya) during the war. They were homesick and just looking for some family to talk to and maybe sing a song or two. Likewise, she would tell stories of seeing farang prisoners working on the railroad who looked like giants but were oh so skinny. She said she and her friends used to throw khanoms to them wrapped in banana leaves. That's Thailand.

MANY MANY Jewish people living in the US have dual citizenship. Every Jewish person I know in the US and elswhere who has traveled to Israel holds dual citizenship. I don't believe there are any numbers regarding number of Israelis holding dual citizenship and/or living outside Israel as I don;t believe the government makes these numbers available.

Trust me. I know A LOT more American Jews that do you, dude. You are so wrong it isn't even funny. A SMALL MINORITY of American Jews hold Israeli passports. You cite an OLD law. You say nothing about CURRENT enforcement regulations and realities. It is not something Jews do casually. BTW, what's your agenda on pushing lies that so a large percentage of American Jews are Israelis?

Can we keep the zionism to PMs please?

SC

So what?

Remember, these were just kids with costumes and plastic machine guns right?

Just like western kids might dress like ninjas or samurais.

would it be different if they dressed as Japanese suicide pilots? or Napoleontic armymen? Or American bomber pilots?

Whose history matters most?

This nazi-stigma and the perpetuation of guild-feelings is not part of Thai history and very rightly so. That's why perhaps only the expat parents at school took offence.

The past is the past in Thailand (that's why their historians suck) and perhaps we should learn from that.

It's been 3 generations since the Nazis, isn't it time to get over it??

you really don't geddit? - it's the ignorance of the significance of Naziism in modern history that is so disturbing which has been sso clearly demonstrated by this "fancy dress" parade. In fact your election of "dress ups" shows you just don't understand.

yes he does ninja could be a offence again samourai

did japan insult western school boy for that?

no because we are ignorant about asia,this wasnt in school program at 12 years hold

and our teachers did'nt give s..T about it

but the thais are also not told about what the japanese did to thailand during wwII too , its brushed under the carpet so they can believe they are such a strong country that has never been conquered , ........time to tell the whole truth and nothing but me thinks,............. a thai teacher once told me that this is not taught in thai schools because the students would be 'angry' towards the japanese,................boo hoo !

Japan didn't conquer Thailand. Why would they teach this now if it wasn't considered to be the case when it was happening. Japan attempted to invade Thailand but after a few hours a mutual agreement was worked out between both countries. Thailand actually gained land during the war and was able to avoid the same problems and fate of other enemy countries after the war.

ok,.if you say so,... i mean thailand was so strong that they stood up to the japanese invasion right ? hmmm.... the thais fought japan at chumphon for a few hours then gave in to their demands,........all but conquered in reality you could say, phibun singed a defence pact under duress, so much so that pridi resigned and later took up a non political role to appease his side of 'regent 'in the absence of ananda mahidol , ........... you can call it what you want, but does'nt sound much like they won , though eventually they did profit from the war .most historians say, they had a choice,....... do as we say or you get wiped of the face of the earth ! japan could do as they wished in thailand , they ruled it .......FACT

You can talk about winning (nobody claimed this) all you want but the bottom line is Thailand was not conquered by Japan. Countries make pacts and mutually rewarding agreements all the time to avoid war or halt conflict ... both Japan and Thailand benefited from their agreement.

They were not conquered because they let them in. They would have preferred not to let them in but didint have a choice because if they didnt let them in they would have been conquered.

So what?

Remember, these were just kids with costumes and plastic machine guns right?

Just like western kids might dress like ninjas or samurais.

would it be different if they dressed as Japanese suicide pilots? or Napoleontic armymen? Or American bomber pilots?

Whose history matters most?

This nazi-stigma and the perpetuation of guild-feelings is not part of Thai history and very rightly so. That's why perhaps only the expat parents at school took offence.

The past is the past in Thailand (that's why their historians suck) and perhaps we should learn from that.

It's been 3 generations since the Nazis, isn't it time to get over it??

you really don't geddit? - it's the ignorance of the significance of Naziism in modern history that is so disturbing which has been sso clearly demonstrated by this "fancy dress" parade. In fact your election of "dress ups" shows you just don't understand.

I don;t really think that the German National Socialist party was the greatest villain of the twentieth century in terms of numbers killed or wickedness. However, they were the losers in the war fought by the most people. And also, as I said earlier, the most horrific aspect is how much they were like ourselves. Try all we can to distance ourselves from them, they were not hutus or whatever other uncivilised darkies, they were not the fiendishly clever Japanese, they were ordinary christians like you or me. THat, to my mind, is what is so abhorrent. It is not a question of how can we stop them doing it again, it is a question of making sure that we do not do it again.

SC

Thank goodness for guiness!

You STILL don't geddit! - Quantifying villainy is so wide of the mark as to be a joke.

It is HOW or WHY these kind of governments come to power that is so important. I estimate your knowledge of history (I mean proper history) is about on a par with a 10 year old Thai student.

ahahaha, that's hilarious

obviously no malice involved, just pure ignorance

This thread is a conduit of hatred. We all know what took place. We should not have to put up reminders of arguments of what took place. TV is not the place for this diatribe.

I guess this settles everything, then? Ok, we'll all log off now and hit the sack dreaming of dancing sugarplums. Well ... dancing fill-in-the-blank ... anyway.

I thought TV was about expats living in Thailand. The Thai educational system is of concern. But this thread brings up expat anger. There are a lot of expats here on both sides of the fence that I think feel equally bad about what took place in World War I and II. So lets focus on fixing the problems and educating the Thai educators. Some people love to hate but I am not one of them.

Ahem. This is the internet which, I believe is available worldwide (free world, that is). Also, I don't remember identifying my nationality or location when signing up. Do you? So, as it appears to be, is open to anyone (free world, that is). The Thai educational system is not a big concern of mine. It's not my problem, but I do know of problems in countries that have a deficient education system. I don't see educating the Thai educators as one of my responsibilities either. I'm not a hater either, however, I do discriminate and have decided not to tell the Thai what to do or how to do it - unless someone materializes with some compensation for my services. Back to the dancers ...

Edited September 27, 201114 yr by MaxYakov

Japan didn't conquer Thailand. Why would they teach this now if it wasn't considered to be the case when it was happening. Japan attempted to invade Thailand but after a few hours a mutual agreement was worked out between both countries. Thailand actually gained land during the war and was able to avoid the same problems and fate of other enemy countries after the war.

ok,.if you say so,... i mean thailand was so strong that they stood up to the japanese invasion right ? hmmm.... the thais fought japan at chumphon for a few hours then gave in to their demands,........all but conquered in reality you could say, phibun singed a defence pact under duress, so much so that pridi resigned and later took up a non political role to appease his side of 'regent 'in the absence of ananda mahidol , ........... you can call it what you want, but does'nt sound much like they won , though eventually they did profit from the war .most historians say, they had a choice,....... do as we say or you get wiped of the face of the earth ! japan could do as they wished in thailand , they ruled it .......FACT

You can talk about winning (nobody claimed this) all you want but the bottom line is Thailand was not conquered by Japan. Countries make pacts and mutually rewarding agreements all the time to avoid war or halt conflict ... both Japan and Thailand benefited from their agreement.

They were not conquered because they let them in. They would have preferred not to let them in but didint have a choice because if they didnt let them in they would have been conquered.

As I have been saying, they were not conquered and actually benefited from the deal including gaining more land.

This happened a few years ago. Has this just happened again or is the Daily Mail short of gossip to report on?

ok,.if you say so,... i mean thailand was so strong that they stood up to the japanese invasion right ? hmmm.... the thais fought japan at chumphon for a few hours then gave in to their demands,........all but conquered in reality you could say, phibun singed a defence pact under duress, so much so that pridi resigned and later took up a non political role to appease his side of 'regent 'in the absence of ananda mahidol , ........... you can call it what you want, but does'nt sound much like they won , though eventually they did profit from the war .most historians say, they had a choice,....... do as we say or you get wiped of the face of the earth ! japan could do as they wished in thailand , they ruled it .......FACT

You can talk about winning (nobody claimed this) all you want but the bottom line is Thailand was not conquered by Japan. Countries make pacts and mutually rewarding agreements all the time to avoid war or halt conflict ... both Japan and Thailand benefited from their agreement.

They were not conquered because they let them in. They would have preferred not to let them in but didint have a choice because if they didnt let them in they would have been conquered.

As I have been saying, they were not conquered and actually benefited from the deal including gaining more land.

Yes but the fact still remains they didnt want to let them in but had no alternative. The Japanese had complete control over Siam.

any thai jews sue the school ?

or only non immigran visa