Nazi Symbols...

[btwretail]

Why is it that Nazi-symbols are so popular here in Thailand? And why do most Thai people not understand these symbols makes some people sick and upset? Do they not learn anything in school?

During this week alone, I first notice a T-shirt at Siam Park with a Nazi Symbol. Next I accidentally came across this picture on this Facebook profile.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=342982492499534&set=a.172914646172987.37304.100003633572739&type=1&theater

When confronting Thai-people I know about this, they do not seem to be specially bothered about it. I really get angry, when I see the ignorance in their eyes or their stupid smile, when asking if they do not understand that this symbol represents racism and hate. And furthermore it really is an insult to many people. Its like they just do not get it - even though they know their history and know who Hilter was.

They can deeply offend people and just laugh or smile... but if we do the same to them, they get very upset and angry. Its not like they don't know the feeling of getting offended, they just do not seem to really understand, that they are truly offending some people, by displaying Nazi-symbols.

I am sorry, but when it comes to this issue, I just totally do not understand Thai-people at all.

[Jingthing]

Better not to try to lecture Thai kids about such stuff. It just encourages them ...

[sha1985]

The swastika is actually an ancient Hindu symbol that the nazis appropriated, my guess would be that even though this looks a bit naziesque it's probably there as the Hindu symbol (which was subsequently adopted into Buddhism). If you go to bali there are swastikas everywhere

[arthurwait]

Kids like to think they are rebelling and stupid people follow fashions.

[Jingthing]

The swastika is actually an ancient Hindu symbol that the nazis appropriated, my guess would be that even though this looks a bit naziesque it's probably there as the Hindu symbol (which was subsequently adopted into Buddhism). If you go to bali there are swastikas everywhere

You're tripping, dude. We're talking here about OBVIOUS Hitleresque, Nazi era swastikas.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Jingthing

[sha1985]

I'm not saying those are not nazi swastikas, I'm saying that to Thais they probably have no idea of the nazi connotations, just the Hindu/Buddhist ones.

[btwretail]

I know the history of the swastika, but what I am seeing is not it being used in a religious perspective. I am seeing a complete ignorant use of it, with sometimes pictures of Hitler too.

What I do not understand, is that they can not get into their thick sculls that this offends many people.... That is what I do not understand.

[Songhua]

The swastika is actually an ancient Hindu symbol that the nazis appropriated, my guess would be that even though this looks a bit naziesque it's probably there as the Hindu symbol (which was subsequently adopted into Buddhism). If you go to bali there are swastikas everywhere

There's not very much hindu about it when combined with goosestepping, 'the' salute, boots, brown shirts and images of the moustached one.

[Exsexyman]

Groundhog Day anyone? Surely this topic has been done to death on TV.

[transam]

I'm not saying those are not nazi swastikas, I'm saying that to Thais they probably have no idea of the nazi connotations, just the Hindu/Buddhist ones.

I believe there is a Hitler burger bar in LOS. Why choose the name Hitler, they must know the history to choose it, shock tactics for their yummy burgers perhaps, the ''l am tough, cool'' factor if you eat here.

[btwretail]

Groundhog Day anyone? Surely this topic has been done to death on TV.

Well, sorry if this has been here before... This is my first post and I had no idea. This is just the one thing in Thailand that can truly piss me off. Especially because it makes Thai-people look extremely stupid - and when it comes to this, then they are!

[Jingthing]

Groundhog Day anyone? Surely this topic has been done to death on TV.

Well, sorry if this has been here before... This is my first post and I had no idea. This is just the one thing in Thailand that can truly piss me off. Especially because it makes Thai-people look extremely stupid - and when it comes to this, then they are!

We prefer to say ignorant, not stupid. More polite, innit?

[transam]

Groundhog Day anyone? Surely this topic has been done to death on TV.

Well, sorry if this has been here before... This is my first post and I had no idea. This is just the one thing in Thailand that can truly piss me off. Especially because it makes Thai-people look extremely stupid - and when it comes to this, then they are!

We've had some biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig on this topic in resent months.

[btwretail]

Groundhog Day anyone? Surely this topic has been done to death on TV.

Well, sorry if this has been here before... This is my first post and I had no idea. This is just the one thing in Thailand that can truly piss me off. Especially because it makes Thai-people look extremely stupid - and when it comes to this, then they are!

We prefer to say ignorant, not stupid. More polite, innit?

When it comes to the display and use of Nazi symbols, I prefer stupid! :-) ... If you are ignorant, you remove the items, when you are informed of their meaning and that they offend many people. You don't just smile or laugh - that is only for stupid people... Just my opinion.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Lite Beer
Quote Fixed

[andrewrooney]

Better not to try to lecture Thai kids about such stuff. It just encourages them ...

One of my P.5 students was pretty obsessed with Hitler for awhile, and liked pretending to be him. "Teacher! I'm Hitler! I'm going to take over Poland!"

Sometimes when I saw him in the hallways he would throw me a Roman salute and say, "Hail, Victory!" with a big smile on his face.

I didn't give him a hard time about it, I figured it was better to just be happy he had an interest in history.

A couple weeks later it wasn't Hitler anymore. "Teacher! I'm Winston Churchill! I'm going to kill Germans!"

At least he's interested in things...

[David48]

To the OP ... btwretail ... we get you.

But that Thais don't care. I'm not say they should ... or should not care ... it's irrelevant what I think ... and fairly much irrelevant what you think also.

That comes from a News item not so long ago here on Thai Visa ... hitler-fashion-statements-confuse-offend-tourists-in-thailand/ just recently.

Starting a one man crusade to try and educate Thais and Thailand on how you perceive the atrocities of a megalomaniac half the world away and from a different generation will do nothing but give you migraines.

Many before you have tried.

If you would like to read any of the 20 or 30 threads about the same subject here on Thai Visa ... just click this link and it takes you to all the people who have written about this in the past. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nazi+swastika++http://www.thaivisa.com+site:www.thaivisa.com&biw=1024&bih=461

[btwretail]

To the OP ... btwretail ... we get you.

But that Thais don't care. I'm not say they should ... or should not care ... it's irrelevant what I think ... and fairly much irrelevant what you think also.

That comes from a News item not so long ago here on Thai Visa ... hitler-fashion-statements-confuse-offend-tourists-in-thailand/ just recently.

Starting a one man crusade to try and educate Thais and Thailand on how you perceive the atrocities of a megalomaniac half the world away and from a different generation will do nothing but give you migraines.

Many before you have tried.

If you would like to read any of the 20 or 30 threads about the same subject here on Thai Visa ... just click this link and it takes you to all the people who have written about this in the past. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nazi+swastika++http://www.thaivisa.com+site:www.thaivisa.com&biw=1024&bih=461

Yeah, I know deep down, it helps nothing and Thais do not care...

It is like corruption, rich people getting away with crime etc... I just forgot for a moment I was in Thailand and got overrun by my western moral standards and upbringing :-) Need to get back into zombie-mode ;-)

[GuestHouse]

It must be a whole month since we had a discussion on this subject.

And like every time it comes up its just as dull.

[WhingeingMoaners]

Thais may or may not know what the Nazi symbol portrays. The reality is they are not interested in Farangs' sensitivities and may even be amused by them. You people in their country are simply irrelevant to them.

Sieg Miaow!

[arthurwait]

I'm not saying those are not nazi swastikas, I'm saying that to Thais they probably have no idea of the nazi connotations, just the Hindu/Buddhist ones.

The pattaya picture of Hitler was about Hinduism ?

[NCC1701A]

It is very simple.

They know what it is and what it means.

[benalibina]

I know its not done in thailand but make a sarcastic/ cynical mockery of the most beloved person in this country would maybe bring some understanding about other peoples feelings.

[greg71]

This seems to come up every few months, i suggest you do a search of the forums ,as there are pages upon pages of replies to the very topic.Does my avatar mean im a nazi then ?

[NCC1701A]

This seems to come up every few months, i suggest you do a search of the forums ,as there are pages upon pages of replies to the very topic.Does my avatar mean im a nazi then ?

no it means you are a devil worshiper.

[snake24]

you see this is the typical western aka "white" way of thinking that the rest of the world somehow needs to follow their norms and need to feel sensitive to them and take down what is offensive to them.

The nazis were notorious in the european and north african section of the world. In asia it was the japanese that were causing havoc. Thailand didn't even actually take part in the war and they don't even have ill feelings towards the japs why should they care what the nazis did since they didn't suffer anything from the nazis.

Actually consider this the imperial japanese flag is considered offensive. The one where there are rays of the sun coming out from the red circle. Now imagine a person from china telling a white person in the US how offensive it is cos his relatives and ancestors suffered under the japs. What do you think that white person would do?

OP are you jewish by any chance?

[snake24]

To the OP ... btwretail ... we get you.

But that Thais don't care. I'm not say they should ... or should not care ... it's irrelevant what I think ... and fairly much irrelevant what you think also.

That comes from a News item not so long ago here on Thai Visa ... hitler-fashion-statements-confuse-offend-tourists-in-thailand/ just recently.

Starting a one man crusade to try and educate Thais and Thailand on how you perceive the atrocities of a megalomaniac half the world away and from a different generation will do nothing but give you migraines.

Many before you have tried.

If you would like to read any of the 20 or 30 threads about the same subject here on Thai Visa ... just click this link and it takes you to all the people who have written about this in the past. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nazi+swastika++http://www.thaivisa.com+site:www.thaivisa.com&biw=1024&bih=461

Yeah, I know deep down, it helps nothing and Thais do not care...

It is like corruption, rich people getting away with crime etc... I just forgot for a moment I was in Thailand and got overrun by my western moral standards and upbringing :-) Need to get back into zombie-mode ;-)

There's no need to appear in your whiny cry baby mode. Just think for a moment would your western world care about the sensitivites of say ppl from asia? You would think it ridiculous that someone from a foreign country like say china could dare say it out loud and find it nuts that you should be sensitive to them so it applies the same way too. If it gives you any comfort it applies in most countries and hitler and the nazis are banned or discouraged in many other countries worldwide like virtually every western nation including aussie and NZ and probably countries like singapore, malaysia maybe african and islamic nations too i don't know so thailand is one of the minority countries that don;t care.

[10ten]

I think it's just an issue that doesn't have any real emotional resonance here - the atrocities simply occurred too far away in time, space and culture. No one here has a grandfather who escaped the Warsaw Ghetto, no one here spent their childhood absorbing 1930s/40s history from Dad's Army/Anne Frank/Agatha Christie novels/etc... (whatever you read/watched in your country) or movies likes Schindler's List/La vita e bella/Sophie Scholl/etc...., no one here has the kind of cultural hangups that Europeans in particular have over their treatment of Jews for at least the last 9 or 10 centuries (and which still resurfaces today - see Golden Dawn in Greece, the Jobbik Party in Hungary and plenty more).

It's not a political point, but I sometimes wonder the same thing about the Red Star/Hammer and Sickle/CCCP logos you see all the time on people in Brooklyn/Shoreditch/traveling on their gap years. Do the people wearing them really not make the connection between their T shirt and 30-odd million dead in the Great Leap Forward, another 3 million or so in the Holodomor, perhaps a couple of million in the gulags, plus, plus, plus - it adds up pretty quickly. Would they understand the reactions they get when they visit the Baltics? Would they understand why they're fined or arrested in Poland? I can't believe that they're entirely ignorant and I tend to think that it basically boils down to the fact that these symbols are iconic and can kind of look cool, they don't really provoke any negative emotional response amongst people who haven't been directly/closely affected (and your friends will tend to be from the same sort of background as you) and the people wearing them have probably never had anybody who is upset by them really explain why that's so in a way they can understand.

[sustento]

Dear Lord - I thought for a minute that I'd been reborn as Bill Murray

[bangkokstick]

Some people are sick and upset ? Why don't they just suicide to let the rest of us have the life that we want ?

[Bodrules]

The one thing that does do my head in, is the neo-nazi scumbags in Russia, considering what that country went through in the Great Patriotic War it does take some level of ignorance / hatred to go around sieg heiling when the Fascist hordes butchered 15 - 20 million of your compatriots!