Protest T-shirt sales get tied up in a bitter bow

And Lips magazine editor Sakchai Guy, the main guy in charge of T-shirt distribution at the rallies, reckons that nearly another Bt13 million has come in from the sale of fashionable accessories-to-the-revolution. And he and his team are still struggling to keep up with demand, with long queues of buyers a regular feature at the main Pathumwan protest site. 

The shirts bearing designs by Sakchai, Kai Boutique and cartoonist Chai Ratchawat are huge sellers, but success always courts controversy. For one thing, unscrupulous vendors who’ve made illicit copies of the most popular shirts now ring the rally site (many of them are near police headquarters). Often they display a sign saying their items come straight from “the factory” and that’s why the usual Bt300 price is marked down to Bt170, says PDRC co-leader Anchalee Paireerat. Not one baht goes to the cause, she points out.

A problem just as serious arose when the official shirt-makers themselves were accused of plagiarism. Sakchai has said on Facebook that Kai Boutique must stop selling its shirts that feature an image of the Thai flag tied ribbon-like into a bow. 

Veteran clothing designer Somchai “Kai” Kaewthong readily admits that the design concept came straight from the cover of Dr Nadaprapai Sucharitkul’s self-published book “Phi Khon Dee”, proceeds from the sale of which were going to the anti-government Student’s and People’s Network.

Nadaprapai visited Kai at his boutique to give him a copy and seemed amenable to him using the design on fund-raising items. Sakchai says she later bought one of the shirts as well. “Pi Kai also wants my magazine to help promote the book because he considers the author like a sister and wants to help her.”

Sakchai too met Nadaprapai and she gave no indication that anything was wrong. 

So it was quite a shock for him and Kai when Nadaprapai accused Kai on Facebook of “stealing” her design and then emailed him to declare it a copyright infringement. “Kai has done such a lot and never seeks more fame or anything,” Sakchai says. “I’ve invited him onstage but he doesn’t want that. All he’s done is sign autographs. Sometimes he’s so busy he doesn’t have time to eat. This is not for his own benefit!” 

Sakchai says he has more than 1,000 pre-ordered shirts in hand and asks for suggestions what to do with them – burn them or donate them to needy people or what? Meanwhile he’s got someone else to be peeved at besides Thaksin Shinawatra.

Of course, if you already own one of the controversial shirts, it’s now a genuine collector’s item, a limited edition. But will you ever want to wear it?