Prepare for a tidal wave of moral outrage over Songkran nudity
Re: “Songkran Festival extended to five-day holiday”, The Nation, February 27.
The extended traditional-New Year holiday will inevitably mean even more complaints about nudity. Yet bare skin is as much part of Thai culture as the festival itself.
Old Songkran paintings depict female figures bathing nude and splashing passers-by.
The annual moral outrage when these scenes are acted out for real reached absurd levels in 2013, when young women danced topless on Silom Road (again). The Culture Ministry spluttered with rage – before it was pointed out that its website featured a painting of topless women celebrating Songkran.
Perhaps the ministry motto should be “Do as we say, not as we do”.
Michael Weldon
