In Thailand black is ugly: Racist, or just misguided?This chart, which is being used as a teaching resource in Thailand, depicts black as being ugly.By James Austin Aug 11, 2015!arlier this year I "rote an article discussing #hite $o"er in Thailand: the "ides%readdislike o& dark skin and "ith it countless "hitening %roducts blemishing the shel'es o& Thai %harmacies( The %re)uel to the %roducts are the seemingly incorrigible ad'ertising cam%aigns, and the catalyst o& the cam%aigns, I "rote, is a national insecurity that seems inter"o'en "ith class %rejudice( *ark e)uals %oor+ symbolic o& a hard li&e "orking outdoors( $ale correlates to the nou'eau riche+ the urban indoor"orking middle classes, or %eo%le li'ing a li&e o& leisure( As I stated in the article, the same %henomenon "as %re'alent throughout !uro%e &or centuries(,ne o& the "hitening %roduct ad'ertisements I in'oked in the story "as a drink that ostensibly gi'es %allor to a %ersons skin( The ad - this is the third time I ha'e rebuked .erena /0luta Berry $lus, but I "ont a%ologi1e - alludes to the &allacy that being black, or dark, means that you are ignominiously stationed some"here at the bottom o& the e'olutionary chain( The drink, ho"e'er, can magically &ast&or"ard you to the higher, "hiter, end o& the scale( At the time I didnt e)uate the ad "ith racism, but I should ha'e+ a&ter all the darkest skin that a%%ears in the ad belongs to someone o& A&rican descent(/ast "eek a Thai childrens teaching resource a%%eared online( A %oster, "hich is a 'ocabulary learning tool, sho"s %ictures o& objects and %eo%le %resented ne2t to a corres%onding "ord( 3andsome, "e learn, looks something like a cartoonish 4orean %o% star+ beauti&ul, a "estern babe+ and %retty looks something like a young &emale Ja%anese anime character( 5ean"hile, ugly is de%icted as "hat looks like a young A&rican man, re%lete "ith diamond stud bling earrings( At the bottom o& the %oster it is"ritten in Thai: 6A "ay to thinking and teaching(7 I& such an arrantly o&&ensi'e descri%tion e2ists in a childrens thinking and teaching aid, then "hat kind o& thinking and teaching ha%%ens in some Thai households?8ear o& the otherAt the most sim%listic le'el, "hite e)uates good and beauti&ul and black the o%%osite( This remains dee%ly ingrained in the Thai %syche,7 ans"ered Thai critic 4ae"mala in a9:;< inter'ie" in "hich she "as asked i& Thailands dislike o& dark skin "as not strictlyrelated to beauty, but also contained elements o& racism(3er conclusion:Thais ha'e a strong dislike and distrust o& darkskinned Burmese and Indians, and can &ind little beauty in dark skinned %eo%le, %oor &oreigners &rom neighboring countries, %oorer &ello" Thais &rom Isaan or Thai5alay 5uslims in the =outh, or A&ricans( Racism in the Thai cultural conte2t is more intert"ined "ith the chau'inistic attitude based on ultranationalism in Thai education "hich teaches us that "e are better than our neighbors, and the Bangkokcentric "orld'ie", inter"o'en "ith %ersistent discrimination based on class, urban 's rural and socialstatus hierarchies(7Dunkin Donuts in Thailand sparked outcry in 201 with this ad showing a wo!an in black"ace !ake#up. $ic% A$.In an article called Being Black in Thailand, "ritten in 9:;>, some o& the black inter'ie"ees described that they &elt the attitude to"ards their skin colour and ho" being black in Thailand might elicit undue attention "asnt racism, merely curiosity( Aly2 =he%herd, an American undergraduate studying in Thailand, said, 6Racism? ?o( I think not ha'ing much e2%osure to many di&&erent skin tones has le&t them in the dark @%un intendedA "ith di&&erent cultures( Its not racism, but I think as time goes on,because Thai %eo%le are so acce%ting, as they become more e2%osed, it "ont e'en be stigmatised( I dont think its a racism thing, just a lack o& e2%osure(7Although in the same story "hen one black teacher &ound that an ad &or teaching %osition said, Baucasians re)uired, "hite %re&erred, and then in)uired to a Thai &riend the meaning o& this she heard the sullied mantra, because 6/ight skin is beauti&ul7( The same res%ondent also remarked on a darker side to studying in Thailand, "here she &ound remnants o& a racist %ast such as "hen she came across a, 6/ittle Black =ambo *oll7( In another story that a%%eared in the ?e" Corker around the same time a black American "as turned do"n &or a teaching job in Thailand because he "ould, 6scare the children7, according to the administrator that inter'ie"ed him(Brooke /e", a black Banadian "oman "ho "orked as an intern in Thailand &or some months, told Asian Borres%ondent: 6$eo%le stared at me all the time, e'ery"here I "ent, as i& they had ne'er seen a black %erson be&ore( I &elt &etishi1ed o&ten, "ith %eo%lega"king at me or discussing the beauty o& my skin as though they "ere being &or"ard thinking and bold &or e'en thinking it( I met a husband and "i&e artist cou%le "ho literally scared me( They "anted to %aint me, like I "as a ga1elle in a sa&ari or something(7 Brooke e2%lained that she thought maybe the lack o& a solid racial ci'il rights mo'ement in Asia may ha'e 6set the stage &or the colonial "hite hierarchy to run"ild7( run "ild7(Object1There are a &e" blogs "ritten about black %eo%les e2%eriences 'isiting or li'ing in Thailand, and most seem to 'acillate around the curiousracist line( Buriosity is natural and unintentional, but there is %lenty o& e'idence o& o'ert racism to"ards black%eo%le in Thailand( $ainted black &aces sometimes a%%ear in Thai comedy sho"s, and those characters are o&ten %ortrayed as being &oolish, clo"nish( This mirrors the a&orementioned ad'ertisement+ its attem%ting to in&orm us that black is not just ugly, but its also back"ards, or not as e'ol'ed as a light %allor( Black 5an, a range o& Thai cleaning %roducts &rom toilet brushes to dish scourers, can be seen in most Thai su%ermarkets( A correlation can be made "ith this brand name and ser'itude, or e'en sla'ery( This kind o& in'idious racial stereoty%ing "as %robably not accidental, but its unlikely that in Thailand it has caused or "ill cause an outcry &rom the %ublic( $olitical correctness has yet to enter the Thai %syche($olitical correctness hasnt gone mad!thnocentrism on the other hand is %er'asi'e( $romulgated by the media and sometimes %oliticians is a belie& that certain, heinous crimes could not ha'e been committed by a Thai( !2iled %olitical acti'ist 0iles Ji Dng%akorn %oints out in a blog %ost on the to%ic racism in Thailand that o&&ensi'e "ords are commonly used in Thailand to describe large grou%s o& %eo%le, or entire races(Dng%akorn "rites, 65ost Thais re&er to anyone "ho looks 5alay, Indian, Turkish or Arabic as 4aak( This is no di&&erent &rom Anglo=a2on racists re&erring to #o%s, =%ics or *agos( The highly o&&ensi'e "ord 4aak is also used to belittle the 5uslim 5alays o& $atani, thus increasing their o%%ression(7 3e adds that black %eo%le o& A&rican descent are o&ten re&erred to as, Aye 5urd, "hich he says is the e)ui'alent o& nigger( /iterally its %robably closer to darkie(Baucasians are kno"n as &arang, and being &arang comes "ith numerous allencom%assing character misconce%tions( The debate o& "hether the term is derogatoryis an old one, but "hether s%oken "ith ill"ill, or accidental ill"ill, is not the %oint( Tohold myo%ic %reset notions o& "hat an entire race is like is dangerous+ its "hat "e callracialism, or "orse racism( $olari1ation o& racial grou%s is common in Thailand+ it belongs to the conce%t o& Thainess, "hich in itsel& is a reducti'e ethnocentric 'ie" o& onesel&( The belie& in Thainess, "hile embraced by much o& the %ublic and %ushed into the brains o& young students by the current go'ernment, is the root o& the e'il concerning racism( 0o'ernments endorsing national solidarity through Thainess is a %arado2, because its endorsement is di'isi'e, as "ell as its success(@R!A* 5,R!: In the "rong skin: Thailand needs to come to terms "ith "hite %o"erAThailand has some catching u% to do in terms o& %olitical correctness, but "e mustnt &orget the %er'asi'e racism and odious caricatures gi'en to black %eo%le in the #est not so long ago( 5uch to my long%assed grand&athers discredit, he used to &lick his rolledu% cigarette ash into a black ser'ants hand ashtray in the late E:s( 6I& you "ant a nigger &or a neighbour, 'ote labour,7 "as an o&t used slogan o& the "orking class "here I li'ed "hen 5argaret Thatcher "as u% &or election( The slogan "as the creationo& British Bonser'ati'e $eter 3arry =te'e 0ri&&iths during the ;FG> general election, but the odious sentiment sur'i'ed until the H:s - and died "hen %olitical correctness "ent mad($olitical correctness the "orld o'er has many critics, and %erha%s at times they are right( #hen the shee% in the nursery rhyme Bah Bah Black =hee% "as turned into the Rainbo" =hee% "e might ask "hy, and has anyone really bene&ited &rom the colour change? Black %eo%le ha'e been re%orted as calling this a joke( The %o%ular Bangkokbased blogger =tickman "rites, 6The almost total absence o& any &orm o& %olitical correctness in Thailand is T3! single most im%ortant attribute that attracts me to this country( The absence o& $B %ro'ides a &reshness and s%ontaneity that is &ar remo'ed &rom current "estern culture(7,'erreaching %olitical correctness may at times seem o%%ressi'e, but understanding and embracing cultural di'ersity or callingout a childrens teaching resource &or saying black %eo%le are ugly is not o%%ressi'e in the least+ its kind, and humane( $B is something that should be learned through our o"n critical research+ its a result o& intelligent re&lection, sel&a"areness+ its a state o& mind that can be encouraged but not taught( #hen Thais start to deconstruct Thainess, %olitical correctness "ill come naturally( ,nce this ha%%ens, a black &ace "ill be meaningless(About the author:James Austin is a journalist and &iction "riter li'ing in Thailand($osted by Tha'am