The campaign posters are EVERYWHERE. You either dodge them while navigating your way on a Bangkok sidewalk (of lack thereof it) or scroll down your Facebook newsfeed and see like seven of them without even trying.
As some sort of sweet revenge (and hopefully for your entertainment), I'll critique a few posters that have caught my attention -- for good or bad. We have to judge them before we cast our votes on March 24 after all, right?
Quote Thief
Khanchai Kaewnate's posters recently went viral for the wrong reasons, leaving many Thai internet peeps wracking their brains trying to make sense of the use of "are been" and other word choices. I wonder myself what does he mean by "Thailand 24HRS Creativity" and "Thailand 24HRS Potential". Since when does Thailand have opening hours? Did he use a Winston Churchill quote without giving him credit?
Representing the Thai People Power Party in Bangkok's 6th district, Khanchai, a creative consultant, said in a recent interview with Khao Sod, that the wrong grammar and his unique phraseology was a calculated move to get people's attention. At the risk of sounding like a stan, I looked around (stalked) his Facebook page and have seen other examples of English phrases he regularly uses, such as "I find that the harder I work the more luck I seem to have" (a Thomas Jefferson quote) and "Our life is what our thoughts make it" (a Marcus Aurelius quote). Yes, it seems he doesn't believe in full stops either.
Does he want to appear cool or clever? Does he try to woo English-speaking Thais? If so, they may go, "If I can't trust you with basic grammar rules, how can I trust you with complicated policies and laws?". More importantly, what's up with using famous quotes without giving proper credit? That's shady. And, shouldn't you be showing your vision or YOUR poster, not someone else's? Most importantly, doesn't it make more sense for him to stick to cool slogans in Thai since he's basically selling himself to Thai people? I rest my case.
Desperate Time Calls for Desperate Measures
Seven candidates from the Puea Chat Party in Nakhon Ratchasima -- six men and one woman -- have changed their names to Thaksin and Yingluck, respectively. They said it was a strategy so people can remember them easily and apparently mooch off of the siblings' popularity. Hopefully, no one votes for them for that very gimmick alone.
So Much to Say, So Little Space
A campaign poster usually contains a respectable picture of the candidate, numbers and some key messages but Nattapong Robkob from the Thai Local Power Party gives you something to read about.
On this poster, not only he vows to resign if he can't be contacted in three hours. He also proclaims, "I would like to ask for an opportunity for new-gen politicians to serve the public. I'll acknowledge their requests and they can follow my progress 24/7. I'll operate with the help of IT. No more backwardness."
Not succinct as I would like my candidate to be but a strong message to put out. I guess he wants to make the most of the limited space he has.
