Bangkok's 'Hitler Chic' Trend Riles Tourists, Israeli Envoy

[cdnvic]

Can we please stop trying to one-up each other over who won the war? Get back on topic please. More off topic posts will be deleted without comment.

[Alfahane]

Talking about ignorance, I can remember a while back asking my missus about the second world war and Japan taking over Thailand, what you talk about I not understand. I dont think this sought of history is taght in Thai education.

1. Understand that most of the world is the non-western world.

2. How much do you know about eastern history that you did not learn via Hollywood?

3. If ignorance bothers you, find an educated spouse. (My thai spouse knows a lot.)

[Luxius]

I would imagine the Thais who actually know something about WW II are rather thankful they were on the side of the Nazis and Japanese. Burma lost 272,000 people compared to 7,600 in Thailand during the war.

They were absolutely thrilled! Finally, France gets cut off, unable to send supplies and troops to Thailand, and the Thais are able to capture the French tanks and kick out the invaders!

Thailand has ALWAYS been an expert in sly diplomacy. I don't blame them, in a world of extreme imperialism. LoS = Land of Slyness.

[kerryk]

As a German i feel ashamed. Sorry.

You are a German of this generation. You should have no reason to be ashamed. The evil was commited by past generations.

That's right. And evil today originates in Israel. I wonder why nazism is on the rise again ...

The swastika is NOT a nazi symbol, as much as an ancient symbol for universal change.

I realize you have not been around that long but the swastika issue has been discussed to death over the past couple of years on TV. The consensus after thousands of posts was that the Nazi Swastika is not the same as the ancient one. My suggestion would be to read the other thousands of posts on the topic before starting the topic again.

[mr78]

Personally i dont understand what all the fuss is about, some of my relatives was murdered by the communists back in ww2 yet i dont have any issues with parodic pictures of Stalin, i even own a parodic t-shirt of Stalin. I think the world needs to let the past go. We are all victims of something, man up and get over it!

Let the flamin begin.

I don't think it is something to get angry about. It is just in bad taste. Wearing a t shirt of a mass murderer like Stalin or Hitler is to me the same as pooping in public. Bad taste. Not polite. It would be to me the same as walking around with a ball cap that looked like dog poop. I would not get angry at the wearer, I would feel more sorry for him and question his sanity.

You must hate Monthy python with a passion then, making fun of dictators, Jesus, the old philosofers and so on.

Edit. I would qouestion the sanity of someone who holds a grudge for 60+ years...

[ludditeman]

Personally i dont understand what all the fuss is about, some of my relatives was murdered by the communists back in ww2 yet i dont have any issues with parodic pictures of Stalin, i even own a parodic t-shirt of Stalin. I think the world needs to let the past go. We are all victims of something, man up and get over it!

Let the flamin begin.

I don't think it is something to get angry about. It is just in bad taste. Wearing a t shirt of a mass murderer like Stalin or Hitler is to me the same as pooping in public. Bad taste. Not polite. It would be to me the same as walking around with a ball cap that looked like dog poop. I would not get angry at the wearer, I would feel more sorry for him and question his sanity.

Famous Thai saying, "Not my Father, Not my Mother"

Thais don't care about Nazi or Russian war crimes, it didn't affect them, or people related to them.

What a bunch of white guys did to each other 50 years ago really doesn't matter to most Thais.

Seeing as they don't really like foreigners anyway ...........

Snappy uniforms and flags though

[folium]

Not sure why people are getting so wound up about these pathetic t-shirts. They hardly glorify the Third Reich and for sheer ugliness and poor taste they fit in perfectly with the standard, abysmal dress of many alleged adult Thais. Hello Kitty and Angry Birds worn by supposed adults just about sums up the sad standard of "fashion" in Thailand.

Historical ignorance and appalling dress sense go hand in hand, just two more aspects of modern Thai "culture".

[lungmi]

As a German i feel ashamed. Sorry.

You are a German of this generation. You should have no reason to be ashamed. The evil was commited by past generations.

That's right. And evil today originates in Israel. I wonder why nazism is on the rise again ...

The swastika is NOT a nazi symbol, as much as an ancient symbol for universal change.

I realize you have not been around that long but the swastika issue has been discussed to death over the past couple of years on TV. The consensus after thousands of posts was that the Nazi Swastika is not the same as the ancient one. My suggestion would be to read the other thousands of posts on the topic before starting the topic again.

The swastika (the indian wheel of the sun) is part of asian culture (opposite clockwise direction) and celtic culture too (clockwise direction.)

[cdnvic]

Off topic posts and one ridiculous conspiracy theory deleted.

[anterian]

Actually we did not really need the Yanks, the Russians were just starting to hit their stride. But the Yanks were more fun.

Perhaps you should explain that to the families of the 418,500 Yanks that died in WW II.

I'm not belittling the Yanks but compare it to 11,000,000 Russian soldiers and 6,700,000 civilians. That is roughly 40 Russians for every American.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_Russians_died_in_World_War_2

[Ulysses G.]

Not sure why people are getting so wound up about these pathetic t-shirts. They hardly glorify the Third Reich

I have to agree. They are just silly cartoons that make no point. However, if they were being sold in Germany, I might be more suspicious.

[folium]

Not sure why people are getting so wound up about these pathetic t-shirts. They hardly glorify the Third Reich

I have to agree. They are just silly cartoons that make no point. However, if they were being sold in Germany, I might be more suspicious.

But they are not being sold in Germany as that would land the vendor in jail fairly sharpish.

Nazi regalia, symbols etc in Thailand (and also seen in Myanmar and Cambodia) can be explained quite simply as 3 parts ignorance/fashion bypass, plus one part teenage-style "gosh aren't I being radical and upsetting the grown ups". Rather like white trash kids playing at being black gangstas. Sad but all part of growing up!

[metisdead]

A flame post has been removed.

[kerryk]

Actually we did not really need the Yanks, the Russians were just starting to hit their stride. But the Yanks were more fun.

Perhaps you should explain that to the families of the 418,500 Yanks that died in WW II.

I'm not belittling the Yanks but compare it to 11,000,000 Russian soldiers and 6,700,000 civilians. That is roughly 40 Russians for every American.

http://wiki.answers...._in_World_War_2

I would love to debate you but the mod said no more talk about WW II. So I will try and play by TV rules. Sorry.

[metisdead]

A post which was on topic then went "bearly" off topic has been removed as well as the ensuing discussion which wasn't even "bearly" on topic

[Reasonableman]

How ursine! 8-]

A post which was on topic then went "bearly" off topic has been removed as well as the ensuing discussion which wasn't even "bearly" on topic

[folium]

How ursine! 8-]

A post which was on topic then went "bearly" off topic has been removed as well as the ensuing discussion which wasn't even "bearly" on topic

I have no desire to panda to such low humour so let's get back on topic.

Adolescents wear stupid things, do stupid things, say stupid things to get attention. Ignore them and they soon move on to other distractions. Ignorant people wandering around in some goofy t-shirt with a pathetic logo don't deserve the attention they crave, can we move on to something more interesting?

[xray]

That's it then; Thailand, home of the new master race.

[chrisinth]

This is black humour plain and simple! Black humour is an escape from the reality of a situation or event that can be psychologically traumatic to those affected by it. It is often used in the armed forces or rescue services to take away the severity of said situation or event. Because somebody makes fun of it, doesn't mean it is funny or that it is meant to offend; it is a release from horror.

For all the posters that have been indignantly offended by this, please pause for a moment and ask yourselves what would be gained by the printers of these shirts to deliberately make them offensive. Unless I am completely off the mark and there is an underlying conspiracy happening, it is black humour.

The majority of stand-up comedians today spend a lot of time on the materials they use. Generally, the material is not written to offend but will be about currently taboo subjects; the objective to get the message across in such a way that it is funny. The public pay to watch the shows knowing this, and again generally enjoy the hour or so release from political correctness that has become such an over-riding factor of our society today. The material used is not personal and the audience is not offended.

There have been almost 400 posts on this subject in less than 24 hours, I hope some people are enlightened by them. Have to go now, have something important to do.

The T-Shirt maker wants to profit on others intelectual property,

the kids wearing it are following a fashion trend this guy created.

Go ask one about Hitler if you see them wearing it and see how much they have to say on him.

It is, driven by shameless greed, frivolity and ignorance, nothing more.

The T-Shirt maker wants to profit......

Of course he does; this sort of thing is happening everywhere in the world, the more outragous the better. Wouldn't it be amazing if the design actually came from a Falang?

But this is not the point here; the message from these shirts is black humour. IMHO

[mr78]

How ursine! 8-]

A post which was on topic then went "bearly" off topic has been removed as well as the ensuing discussion which wasn't even "bearly" on topic

I have no desire to panda to such low humour so let's get back on topic.

Adolescents wear stupid things, do stupid things, say stupid things to get attention. Ignore them and they soon move on to other distractions. Ignorant people wandering around in some goofy t-shirt with a pathetic logo don't deserve the attention they crave, can we move on to something more interesting?

I agree! Our youth shall all dress as the Hitler jugend and we shall send anyone that dare put on a T-shirt with any kind of funny picture on straight to the monkey house. The youth does not deserve any kind of freedom or any form of expression until they have proven themselves worthy of it, this usually happens around the age of 35-40 when they give up all hopes on freedom and gives in to wearing a suit.

Also, if you see a young person smiling they are probably up to no good, so make sure to vote NO on whatever young people are smiling about. Everything was better in the 50's

[Thaddeus]

That's it then; Thailand, home of the new master race.

Whoaa.... They invented it <deleted>.

[xray]

The consensus after thousands of posts was that the Nazi Swastika is not the same as the ancient one.

In regards to the nazi ‘swastika’ emblem, which is comprised by the colors black, red, and white, the actual swastika is the black part, whereas the red and white parts are only the background.

There are many different types and forms of ancient swastika. Some have forms that most people would not identify as even being a swastika. However, the ‘nazi swastika’, meaning the black part of that emblem, does match exactly one form of ancient swastika. The ancient rendering of that form can be found on red backgrounds, as well as on white backgrounds. I have never seen an ancient rendering of a swastika that matches the combination of backgrounds and device that are found on the ‘nazi swastika’.

[endure]

Not sure why people are getting so wound up about these pathetic t-shirts. They hardly glorify the Third Reich

I have to agree. They are just silly cartoons that make no point. However, if they were being sold in Germany, I might be more suspicious.

I think they'd be illegal in Germany. They have very strict laws about nazi symbols there.

[balo]

If Fawly Towers and Basil could make fun of Hitler 30 years ago , why cant we tolerate some comical Hitler shirts ?

Watching Prince Harry in a Hitler costume is ok but not this?

[nurofiend]

i thought 'hitler chic' died with punk

[MAJIC]

'It seems to me that what ever has happened historically outside of Thailand is of no consequence to Thais,it didn't happen in Thailand,so what's the fuss about? it's not important,from their narrow vision and viewpoint.

It's a very insular,egocentric, country,how else could Bin Laden T-Shirts be shamefully on sale,shortly after 9/11,and worse being worn, but fail to agree,or show disrespect,to one of their sensitive/taboo subjects,and you had better start running.

[oggie911]

nice topic good ole thai fun,if there happy and its there country,

[Schnitzel]

I still remeber what big deal were made out of "Hitler comes to Pattaya" by israeli and german embassadors, as the thais set up a huge advertisement image of this former austrian guy whith the funny mustache but with the wrong arm up. They felt so ashamed ^^

Anybody remembers?

Now the next big deal is rising.

Funny Ronald but also with the wrong arm streched so Mc D can't even complain about?

Hell they don't feel ashamed like the stupid krauts still paying for.

They make money of it, thats business

[onionluke]

Very clever art student . Stealing back in a grotesque parody what was originally stolen in a grotesque parody .

[GentlemanJim]

Fill your boots! Be outraged and offended .... Then can we get back to being outraged about things that really matter.

http://www.google.co...iw=1412&bih=714