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- มิตรสหายอีกท่านหนึ่ง
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/world/asia/thai-beer-loses-esteem-after-heiresss-remarks.html?_r=0
ooo
By THOMAS FULLERJAN. 10, 2014
Chitpas Bhirombhakdi, whose family owns the Boon Rawd Brewery, said rural areas did not understand democracy. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
UDON THANI, Thailand — It was probably inevitable in a
country so obsessed with food and drink that Thailand’s political
turmoil would spill over into beer.
Singha
beer, made by the oldest brewery in Thailand, is a national icon and a
staple of Thai restaurants around the world. But in recent weeks it has
also become a target of an informal boycott by Thais who are angry that a
member of the wealthy family behind the beer company is one of the
leaders of antigovernment demonstrators who are trying to scuttle
elections planned for next month.
Thailand’s political turmoil defies concise
explanation, but the beer boycott is emblematic of one striking division
in Thailand today: the chasm between middle- and upper-class protesters
in Bangkok, and the millions of voters in the provinces who are
bewildered and angered at the protesters’ attempts to oust the
government and to stop the elections that seem almost sure to return the
government to power.
Chitpas Bhirombhakdi, 28, the beer heiress and a major player in the Bangkok protests, was quoted last month
in a widely circulated article saying that many Thais lack a “true
understanding” of democracy, “especially in the rural areas.”
The remarks incited palpable anger here in northeastern
Thailand, a vast and formerly impoverished rice-growing region that has
seen sharp improvements in living conditions and education in recent
decades, partly because of the policies of Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon and former prime minister who is the focus of the protests.
For decades, northeastern Thailand was the region that
supplied the country with domestic servants, construction workers, taxi
drivers. Now, with a third of Thailand’s population, it also delivers
the votes that have been instrumental in electing the governing party —
which includes Mr. Thaksin’s sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra —
that the protesters are so determined to oust from power.
To detractors in the northeast, Ms. Chitpas, an
aspiring politician who is a direct descendant of a 19th-century Thai
king, is a symbol of a Bangkok upper class holding onto vestiges of
feudal power and not trusting rural voters to make the right choice at
the ballot box.
“She’s rich, and she lives in rich people’s circles —
she knows nothing about rural life,” said Patsadaporn Chantabutr, 45, a
teacher at an elementary school in a village outside Udon Thani, who
like many people here has followed the protests closely. “We reject the
idea that we are just hillbillies.”
As the boycott was spreading in the northeast, mostly
through social media and word of mouth, Ms. Chitpas wrote on her
Facebook page that she was fighting for the country and had no intention
to “infringe” on other people’s rights. She did not deny the words
attributed to her about Thais lacking an understanding of democracy, but
she added, “I would like to inform you that I’ve never looked down on
rural people at all.”
She did not respond to a request for further clarification.
Kwanchai Praipana, the head in the northeast of a group
of so-called red shirts that supports the government, says the point of
the beer boycott is to send a message to companies with links to the
protesters: rural people vote in elections — and with their wallets.
“We want to tell the businessmen who are supporting
these protesters that they have chosen the wrong side,” Mr. Kwanchai
said. “They have to understand that their revenue comes from villagers.”
Boon Rawd Brewery, the company that makes Singha and
Leo, a cheaper beer that is popular in the northeast, declined to reveal
the extent of the damage caused by the boycott. But some shopkeepers
say sales of Singha and Leo around New Year’s, traditionally a time of
heavy drinking, were down sharply.
Kittisak Srichan, the owner of Khrua Khun Nit, one of
the most famous restaurants here, said he removed Singha beer and Singha
bottled water from the dining area last month. “I don’t want to anger
the customers,” Mr. Kittisak said. “Customers said to me, ‘Why are you
selling this? The only thing this beer should be used for is pouring on
your feet.’ ”
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