Dutch Firm Apologises Over Buddha Toilets

[webfact]

Dutch firm apologises over Buddha toilets

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok announced yesterday on its Facebook page that Boels rental, the company that put pictures of the Lord Buddha on the doors of portable public toilets in Brunssum City, has apologised to the Thai and Buddhist communities.

After the Embassy brought the Thai reactions to the rental company's attention, the Embassy said the company said it was not aware of the negative impact of Buddha toilets and they would immediately withdraw the designs from the market.

Mass-communication expert Somkiat Onwimon, who published the Dutch Embassy's letter on his Facebook page, urged Thais to forgive the Netherlands, while the Knowing Buddha organisation expressed their thanks to the Dutch Embassy for its quick response in solving the issue.

The move followed a social media uproar started by Thai Facebook users Anuchit Pomthong and Nok Ja, who launched an online campaign to demand the removal of the Lord Buddha pictures from the portable toilets.

-- The Nation 2013-01-24

[noob7]

Lucky, there wasn't enough space for the china Version!

[manarak]

I wonder in which sick brain of third zone marketing genius this idea was born

[Payboy]

Almost as sacrilegious as coyote dancing on temple grounds.

[Buchholz]

I wonder in which sick brain of third zone marketing genius this idea was born

Hopefully he's not now working on the 4,900 toilets for Bangkok bus stops.

.

[Robby nz]

The Dutch Co are fortunate they didnt choose something from Islam.

[hellodolly]

I wonder in which sick brain of third zone marketing genius this idea was born

Probably one equal to the Thai one that told the Dutch thanks but no thanks we don't need your help with flood prevention and water management. Wer have academics who know every thing.

[GentlemanJim]

A measured and sensible response from the followers of Lord Buddah i wonder how many people would have already died if the artwork on the side of the toilets had been Mohammed!

[doctorproc156]

The funny thing is, Buddha would not have cared 1 single bit.

[Dodobird]

This one is one of a secular sick brain who has no feeling about religion ....

[nomunynohuny]

This one is one of a secular sick brain who has no feeling about religion ....

Buddhism cannot strictly be called a religion because it is not a system of faith and worship nor the outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a God or gods having power over their own destiny to whom obedience, service, and honor are due.

Edited January 24, 2013 by nomunynohuny

[whistleblower]

Anuchit Pomthong and Nok Ja held a press conference today to say how happy they were that their online campaign that was launched and updated during working hours (they work for a western company that pays them far in excess of what a Thai company would). Whilst sporting fake levi jeans, a Swastika t shirt, rip off reeboks, a copy rolex watch and smelling of imitation Guess aftershave, Nok Ja said he was happy that this newsworthy campaign has succeded.

We caught up with the intrepid pair on a beachfront in Phuket. As we watched with a backdrop of Immigration officers loading up Rhohingya refugees onto a bus to be sent back to Burma to face certain death or be sold into human trafficking, Anuchit added "I am so happy that Thais have come together on this very sensitive issue to force the Dutch company to change their design" He added "we Thais are a sensitive bunch when something annoys us. And we are also aware of the sensitivity of other nations" Nok Ja chipped in "Thats why when the Japanese visited our country during world war 2 not only did we welcome them with open arms, we actually helped them torture POWs and swept it under the table when they broke the Geneva Convention" Anuchit (getting excited now by the attention) adds "And dont forget we let the Americans have airbases here during the Vietnam war. We sold our daughters/wives/sisters to them for their sexual amusement. So I challenge anyone to say Thais aren't respectful of other people" He added "okay I admit that we were hoping to get something in return for our efforts, like, say the return of Angkor Wat that really belongs to us"

At this point we have to break from the interview for 1/2 hour as a group of taxi drivers complained we were getting in the way of them beating an innocent tourist to a bloody pulp.

When the interview restarted we asked the pair what was next on their "if its Thai its ours, if its not we will copy it" campaign. Nok Ja replies "Well right now we are starting a petition to overturn the world court and the World heritages decision to give OUR Preah Vihear to the Khmers" he continues, "after all they only got it in the first place because we were to chicken shit to fight them one year so we ceded some Thai land to them. Anuchit interupts, "Do you know Thailand has never been colonised by a foreign country!. We Thais are so proud of that. Apart from letting the Burmese come and go as they wished for hundreds of years and eventually moving our capital to a swamp to facilitate their looting and rampaging oh and of course our brief occupation by the japs we have never been colonised! We have a simple method for that sort of thing. Whenever we are threatened by another country we just give them a huge chunk of our country"

When asked how they would be celebrating this monumentous victory Anuchit replied "well I will be out on the town sinking a few beer Laos tonight! (technically beer Laos is a Thai beer, because years ago the land on which the factory sits was Thai but they gave it away to avoid being invaded) asked if his wife would be joining the celebrations Anuchit replied "NO this victory is so big I will have to take out my Mia Noi"

Nok Ja replied that his celebrations would be a bit quieter: "I will celebrate at home" he replied "I dont have the money to spend on beer as i am saving up for a sex change. Then I will go and work in Pattaya and really rake in the money" he continued "Anuchit always has money because his dads side of the family are all policemen who have a large Tea fund and all of his mums side of the family are hookers who cornered the market in drugging their punters and stealing from them" So No, i will just stay at home and tweet my friends on my Knock off Ipad about this earthshattering result, I may however watch a 100bht pirated movie later"

The Interview ends here as Anuchit has to go home sink a bottle of Lao Kaow and beat his wife for not getting any farang punters to shag her her before he goes out to the snooker hall with his mia noi and Nok Ja has 15 excited schoolgirls waiting for him to teach them cheerleeding!

Being a non biased newspaper, we did contact the Dutch advertising ageny involved. Unfortunately they had no comment AS THEY WERE TOO BUSY GETTING ON WITH THEIR F@#&ING LIVES!!!

[ggold]

Is this an omen of what is to become of Thailand? When the sh*te hits the fan!

[xminator]

The funny thing is, Buddha would not have cared 1 single bit.

For many in the modern society the toilet is the only place they have time for meditation. As with the muslim flagburners, for whatever gods sake, grov a pair and stop whining.

[Hedghog]

I thought they looked very good.

[Locationthailand]

Not too smart ...

[noob7]

I thought they looked very good.

Looking good, if new. How about after a couple of days in use? Maybe the hope of the company was, no Graffiti or other damaging.

Would someone have a complain, in case, they put the images on something like this?

Edited January 24, 2013 by noob7

[DocN]

People are being offended about all kinds of s#@% nowadays!

[anon467367354]

i would think they would want pictures of the Buddha everywhere. It's perspective that decided it was offensive even when it was not being done to be offensive.

[sprq]

The funny thing is, Buddha would not have cared 1 single bit.

Yes, quite. How many Thais actually understand the teachings of the Buddha, rather than the conventional beliefs of Thai Buddhism? Anybody care to make an estimate?

[theajarn]

I wonder in which sick brain of third zone marketing genius this idea was born

The same mindset that allows Thai students to dress up as the SS Guard with a petite, female version of Hitler leading the parade.

[bankei]

This one is one of a secular sick brain who has no feeling about religion ....

Buddhism cannot strictly be called a religion because it is not a system of faith and worship nor the outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a God or gods having power over their own destiny to whom obedience, service, and honor are due.

Sounds like you have never been to a Thai temple...

[denishuahin]

This will upset the waterboard :-)

[retell]

A measured and sensible response from the followers of Lord Buddah i wonder how many people would have already died if the artwork on the side of the toilets had been Mohammed!

since its not allowed to make a painting ,drawing of mohamed (the prophet) one can safely say that all the pictures available at the moment are clearly pirated copies

[Jawnie]

The funny thing is, Buddha would not have cared 1 single bit.

This is not the point. The point is respecting Buddha images.

[nomunynohuny]

This one is one of a secular sick brain who has no feeling about religion ....

Buddhism cannot strictly be called a religion because it is not a system of faith and worship nor the outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a God or gods having power over their own destiny to whom obedience, service, and honor are due.

Sounds like you have never been to a Thai temple...

Having lived here for 22 years of course I have. Sounds like you haven't fully understood Thai culture; while calling themselves Buddhist, most Thais beliefs are in fact a mix of (some) Buddhist teachings and animism.

[Asiantravel]

Obviously, a company that hadn't attributed much importance to research in advance on cultural differences?

[cup-O-coffee]

Almost as sacrilegious as coyote dancing on temple grounds.

...or, a band of roving senior monks haggling over the price of an iPad in Tuk Com. I've witnessed it with my own eyes many times.

[Jawnie]

The point of all this is that it is a basic teaching in all schools of Buddhism that images of the Buddha are considered to be the Buddha himself. As one poster mentioned, the Buddha wouldn't have cared on inch. I respectfully disagree...not with the the posters literal meaning, but with the implication that the Buddha would not mind his picture on the wall of a toilet. We will never know for sure what the Buddha would think in this particular instance, but most schools of Buddhism teach and advise that Buddha images are to be respected. This means they are to be treated with respect and not displayed inappropriately which means they aren't to be placed on the ground or floor, walked on or stepped over, or placed in inappropriate areas...such as toilets. Frankly, they aren't supposed to be in bedrooms, either.

All of the teachings on the handling of Buddha images are not followed in Thailand. For example, Thais typically place Buddhist texts and prayer books on the floor. Tibetan Buddhist would never place an image of the Buddha or a prayer text on the floor. The same goes for pictures of the Buddha on a toilet.

These ideas are not for the Buddha. They are for us, humans, to remind the followers that the Buddha is to be remembered and respected in all ways and at all times.

[Gweiloman]

What is equally pathetic is the number of posts on this thread reflecting the disrespect that the posters have of the Thai people and their beliefs.