Human Flower Project

Friday, March 24, 2006

Thai Flowers on the Campaign Trail

Political strife in Thailand plays out in a battle of flowers bestowals.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of Thailand’s Democrat Party, was

decked with flowers in Bangkok yesterday.

Photo: Sakchai Lalit, for AP

Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra receives a few pretty red roses on a campaign stop in Chang Mai. Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva accepts a lovely garland of purple orchids in Bangkok. Thaksin wears some floral pom-poms as he greets supporters. Abhisit dons two floral leis and takes questions from reporters.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra receives flowers from children, March 21, campaigning in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Photo: AP

Okay, the race is on. Thaksin receives a bouquet from an elephant. And Abhisit needs three hands and two additional heads to manage the gobs of floral gifts, as anti-Thaksin protestors burn the prime minister in effigy in the capital.

The leadership of Thailand is clearly in dispute. The Parliament has been dissolved, and Thaksin has called for a “snap” election April 2. Meanwhile, three major media organizations want elections postponed and three opposition parties want no elections at all. They’re petitioning the King of Thailand to appoint a new prime minister himself.

We don’t pretend to fathom the complexities of Thai politics. Yikes. We have learned that Thaksin’s the biggest mega-capitalist leader since Italy’s Berlusconi; he’s cracked down on methamphetamines in a big way; rural Thailand is seeing some economic progress at last; and he just slipped a monster business deal through a federal loophole in January, making himself and his family zillionaires.

What we can hope to follow is the floral dimension of campaigning. And that in itself has been dazzlingly competitive. Many years ago, “Thaksin’s father, Lert Shinawatra, expanded beyond the family’s traditional silk business and opened a coffee shop, grew oranges and winter flowers in Chiang Mai’s San Kamphaeng district.” But Thaksin moved over into the far more lucrative business of mobile phones and made a fortune.

Abhisit Vejjajiva receives flowers

at a rally in Phathum Thani Mar. 20

Photo:  Chaiwat Subprasom, for Reuters

However today, florally speaking, he’s at a distinct disadvantage. His supporters are, for the most part, poor and rural, while Abhisit appeals to Bangkok’s young, upper crust. Abhisit’s critics argue that “he has relied primarily on his looks to further his career in Thai politics” —looks marvelously enhanced, we might note, by marigold garlands. Abhisit seems to have gained even greater floral advantage by aligning himself with Thailand’s king, thus commanding the symbolic advantage of yellow flowers associated with the monarch. Yellow is so very flattering! veritably glimmering under TV lights. Further, the anti-Thaksin forces have wisely chosen flower necklaces for their candidate over single stems or bouquets: “the better to see you as-prime-minister with, my dear.”

Political rallies have clogged the streets of Bangkok. There’s evidence, too, that the strife over governance has increased domestic violence around the nation. Flowers, typically considered calming and feminine, have amped the excitement and the acrimony, too, in this very public conflict of man and man.