Thai educators grapple with Nazi imagery

Bangkok (Thailand) — After a deluge of incidents, Thailand is currently in discussions to re-work its national curriculum to include Holocaust education. Thailand has recently witnessed a shop in a mall in Bangkok selling Nazi clothes and accessories, parading students in Chiang Mai performing the “Sieg Heil” Nazi salutes wearing SS uniforms, the discovery of a fried chicken restaurant called “Hitler” and a mural apparently lionising Hitler displayed on the campus of one of Thailand’s oldest and most respected schools, Chulalongkorn University (CU).

Thailand’s association with Nazi imagery is not new. Chetana Nagavajara, a professor of German literature at Silapakorn University, said the Hitler mural at CU “could have happened at any institution”.

Decades ago, a “Nazi bar” was set up in a popular Bangkok entertainment district, with waiters dressed up as SS officers and saluting customers. Former Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj lashed out at the practice in Siam Rath, a tabloid newspaper, and the bar was shut down soon after.

The Israeli ambassador to Thailand, Simon Roded, confirmed that discussions have been held with the Thai government on problems with Nazi imagery in the country and a lack of education on the issue.

“We were surprised to learn of the minimal attention devoted to teaching World War II history, including the Holocaust, in the Thai education system. Frankly, it is a concern for us,” he said. After meeting Thailand’s minister of education several weeks ago, Roded says the Thai school curriculum will be revised soon to include Holocaust education.

Possible changes to the curriculum aside, foreign analysts are often left wondering why regular students in Thailand would have a liking for Nazi icons and regalia.

“I think they just don’t know any better. World history and geography instruction are woefully inadequate in Thai schools,” said Jason Alavi, the principal of an American English-language school in Bangkok. “The vast majority of Thais I have known have very little real, useful knowledge of the details of the rest of the world. It’s just not a strong point in the Thai curriculum.”

As a nation that relies on tourism, you cannot afford to have such ignorance. Truth and education are the best disinfectants against bigotry and lies. — Reuters