Taking the shirt off her back and copying it

“Now or Never”, the tees say in big letters, echoing the anti-government stance of those whistleblowers, the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, as well as the shirts’ designer. 

Launched on December 22, the first lot sold out in no time, leaving many fans disappointed when they couldn’t get one. Benya then took to Facebook to say she’d ordered more and they were available at all Soda branches.

Costing Bt790, the shirts come in many colours, including white. Proceeds go not into Benya’s pocket but to support the PDRC’s rallies.

“Sorry, I couldn’t sell it for Bt199 but I want to raise money. And I am no opportunist. I am only producing more because there is demand from customers,” she said.

Like many entrepreneurs, Benya has been a big supporter of the PDRC, donating Bt500,000 and distributing free food at the rallies. And the T-shirts will raise a lot more money to keep those whistles blowing.

Meanwhile, a Facebook group called We Vote countered Benya’s message by adding to it with a shirt in a similar design that says “Democracy Now or Never”.

Friends of Benya were furious and they accused We Vote of copying.

But Benya thinks the copycat shirts are great.

“Frankly speaking, I was so mad when I first saw it, but when I thought about it, the words you wrote ‘democracy Now or Never’ actually have meaning for us,” she wrote in response to We Vote. “Thanks so much, you have said the right thing. We are campaigning for democracy and we mean the genuine democracy not the puppets that are moved by a dictator. Thanks again for helping us to underline our stand.”

And Soda fans are starting to come around, with one writing on Facebook, “It feels so much like the old days when Soda launched a design and people would copy it.” 

 

Mamba!

Belated congratulations to our editorial cartoonist Stephff who was awarded the Golden Mamba Award by Thavibu Gallery on December 20. It’s a special award created for the Thai-based French artist, whose cartoons sometimes have a tiny mamba snake slithering around somewhere. The gallery praised Stephff for his valuable contribution in creating awareness of social, environmental and political issues through creative cartoons. 

Obviously, the gallery is a big fan of Stephff and is especially appreciative of his most recent cartoons, which depict the craziness of the country’s current situation.

Stephff himself has been “attacked” by both sides in the polarising conflicts, which means he must be doing something right. After all, he says, he only draws to reflect what happened. Don’t shoot the messenger, they say. Thavibu didn’t and even rewarded him. Well done, Stephff.