Responsible History Education Action

On Hiatus

3/15/2018

It's been a while since we've posted. We've taken a hiatus to work on another project, but are still reachable here and through our email address and will post updates if any relevant news comes up.

Meanwhile, we're working to animate History for kids. It's a similar project as we try to make processes within history accessible to as many people as possible, with adaptations for those learning English, dyslexia, hearing impairments and more. It's a massively large project and it's only just begun. If you're an educator, or just interested, have a look at this project here: www.edyoutoo.com/

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Opera based on Anne Frank’s diary comes to Bangkok-- Go See it and Bring Your Class!

4/16/2016

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Opera Siam along with the Embassies of Israel and Germany are bringing an opera to Bangkok based on the life of Anne Frank. Both evening shows are sold out, however there are matinee tickets still available on Thursday the 21st of April at 2 PM, which is a great opportunity to bring both history and music to students. Please go to Siam Opera to reserve tickets.

The story of Anne Frank is very compelling because her diary is an intimate account of a girl's life and everyday thoughts during the Holocaust. Anne Frank is a relatable personality for many because she shares her feelings of vulnerability not only as someone in hiding from the Nazis, but also someone dealing with a teenager's life changes and family conflicts under extraordinary circumstances yet her generosity of spirit still shines through.

This truly is a great opportunity for students. Many schools bring students to see matinees of performances as a cultural experience and Anne Frank is about a child, which can bridge the gap between 'high culture' and kids. As someone that went to a public (government) school outside of New York City, I went to see La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera and several other matinee performances at Lincoln Center that are considered cornerstones of Western culture. I may not have been able to fully appreciate them at a young age, but many of my classmates are now successfully working in the performing arts and I have a level of cultural literacy that enriches my experiences in watching everyday movies and television. Everyone learned is that opera does not need to be an intimidating experience and the etiquette is pretty simple. Not only is this a cultural opportunity, it's a photo-op for school brochures and may be a cure for the post-Songkran blues.

We took some screenshots of a few expat gripes (as some expats are wont to gripe) about the idea of the performance and were going to refute them, but the fact that the first two shows have sold out quickly already proves its value before the curtain is even raised. For kids, this story along with Life is Beautiful are our top picks because they present history as someone's story that was affected by history. Modern Historians value primary sources and narratives of everyday people and many in Education also believe that History is best taught through the lives of 'average' people instead of statistics, a grand tome of famous people and war battles.

If you're interested in bringing a class to the performance, we recommend a little bit of simple preparation. This opera is in English, so English speakers will require only some familiarity with the story. Here is a teacher's guide to opera performances for students new to opera that will help with understanding the best ways to enjoy the show with students interests in mind: http://www.skylightmusictheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Audience-ettiquette-guide-2011_2012.pdf

Please see Siam Opera's page for more details and for tickets.

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A Resolution Worth Making and a Few Lists

1/3/2016

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Bruce Nauman, Knows Doesn't Know, 1983. Footage captured at the Venice Biennale 2015

The Beginning of a new year is a time that people look at ways of improving themselves. We looked at the Top Ten New Years Resolutions and found these:
1 Lose Weight
2 Getting Organized
3 Spend Less, Save More
4 Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5 Staying Fit and Healthy
6 Learn Something Exciting
7 Quit Smoking
8 Help Others in Their Dreams
9 Fall in Love
10 Spend More Time with Family

We'd like to propose a resolution that requires a little effort but makes a big difference in the social media landscape. Think before linking/sharing. Why? Far too many fake news and false stories were shared and some of them were believed. Some examples:

English Language is Dying in UK Schools (fake)
Miss Columbia is Suing Steve Harvey (fake)
Hitler is Still Alive (fake!)
Blondes are Going Extinct (fake)
and
Many rumors about the Bangkok Bombing suspect turned out to be fake, mistranslated or knee-jerk reactions made in a panic

These stories are all false, and we aren't linking them as we don't want to fuel anyone's ad revenue that published such things. There are a variety of reasons that fake news is created and spread, occasionally parody articles are taken as serious journalism (we love parody news, it's a shame the real news comes so close sometimes they can be confused,) miscommunications happen, some journalism is sloppy but there are also people that intentionally troll or create fake statistics and articles for their own agendas and profit.

As Teachers, we encourage our students to think critically and evaluate information. Whether you're a Teacher, Student or not, we are all now more than consumers of information, we all create profiles, curate articles and information to share on social media. Everyone now curates content and all of us also can produce content if we wish to do so. The amount of information on the internet is staggering and still growing. All of us have content filtered out, whether Google ranks it low, Facebook leaves it out of your news feed, Twitter becomes too cluttered to read and we also filter and scan out things on our own, often without thinking. Even when false stories are not believed, they take up space where important content could be.

How should people spot fake news? First, check the source. If the source is unknown to you, see if a trusted source also has the same story. If the news is breaking and on Twitter, be aware that many rumors circulate there and look at the reputation of those tweeting and retweeting the story and if you share the story, do so informing people it's unconfirmed. Some viral stories are created because they will be shared, and snopes.com often will try to verify those stories.

In addition to not sharing fake stories, you can also keep them from being spread by others. Fake stories are such a widespread problem, most social media now have report functions especially for fake stories. If a friend shares a fake story, you can politely point out it's fake or send them a message. Some social media pages try to post as many stories as possible with the truthfulness of the stories being a non-issue, and you can point out their strategy and unfollow or unsubscribe from those pages. Pages and people you follow that do care about the truthfulness and value of their stories can also be followed and shared with others, as the good information can help to drown out the bad.

Happy New Year to all and Share Smartly!

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Single Gateway Internet And You

10/9/2015

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In May of 2014, Thailand experienced an internet outage that sent many into an (albeit brief) state of panic. Facebook was blocked in Thailand for about forty minutes. With Facebook down, many people took to Twitter to find out what was going on and perhaps more work was done that day.

Slight social media meltdown taking place over Facebook being down/blocked in #Thailand
— Zoe Daniel (@zdaniel) May 28, 2014

Facebook down across Thailand reports: http://t.co/opMMbl1mfM
— Thailand News (@Thailand_News) May 28, 2014

Over the course of that hour, many people speculated why it had been taken down. People were upset that their lines of communication were blocked and that their online routines had been disrupted. Users from all sides of the political spectrum were expressing anger. What Happened?

Responses to the outage were so strong that Thailand’s army included a denial of any involvement during a TV broadcast, despite conflicting messages in the media. In particular, Surachai Srisaracam, permanent secretary of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, told Reuters that the block had been enforced deliberately.
TNW News

Thailand’s military government may be about to introduce a China-style Internet firewall (aka single gateway) to control the flow of online information, according to a report by Telecom Asia. We mention the 2014 Facebook block as part of the single gateway internet proposal because it shows what happens when popular websites are disrupted. The most current estimate of blocked websites is 110,000 from 2010, these websites include publications that have published politically sensitive content, gambling, pornography and copyright infringement. It's nearly impossible to get an accurate accounting of the number of websites blocked, as it is not a transparent process and there is no list. Youtube also cooperates with the Thai government in blocking select videos after it was blocked several times in 2006 and 2007.

The current level of censorship has been enough for Reporters Without Borders to rank at 134 out of 180 nations in its Press Freedom Index in 2015. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) enforces internet blocks by punishing noncompliance with reduced bandwidth and even a loss of licensure for the ISPs. Two companies TOT (state owned) and True have about 80% of the market share for home internet users, which also makes the MICT's enforcement especially simple for its orders of blocking websites.

In this case as in many cases when a new law is proposed in Thailand, it can be met with apathy because there has been a pattern of lack of enforcement and/or follow through. The blockage of Facebook was met with an outcry because it happened. The vast majority of Thailand's Facebook activity is photos of people going out, plates of food and pets, as can be said of most nations'.

The Thai green screen of denial, and Google safe search said it was fine.

A single gateway internet system in Thailand will affect people in Thailand in several ways, the most significant will be slower speeds for all. Thailand is ranked 8th in Asia for internet speed, far behind Singapore and Hong Kong and Bangkok ranks 17th of cities in Thailand with its average speed declining. This is the same system of internet censorship used in China, which has created Baidu as an alternative to Google's search engine and Weibo where all users must be registered with ID to use the service as an alternative to Twitter.

A single gateway system sets up a community of haves and have nots among internet users. Many people in China use paid VPN services to access blocked content and very tech savvy users are able to circumvent the firewall for free although these measures do not help the issues with speed. Websites in China are blocked without notice and sensitive to current events, news about the Arab Spring in 2011 and 2012 prompted Chinese officials to block major media outlets intermittently. Google in China is heavily restricted, only allowing three searches in a short time period before being blocked for several hours and a Google image search of Chinese city names will crash a user's browser. Gmail, Google Drive, Google Chat and Google+ have also been intermittently banned, locking out some users without any notice. China banned The Big Bang Theory, a US television show from streaming in 2014 for becoming too popular. The Chinese Government created its firewall in 1997 to maintain order, their choices of websites to block since then can be arbitrary at times.

Many publications that are active in Thailand also already practice self-censorship for fear of having their web sites blocked. Many writers are unsure of how much they are allowed to be critical of government policies and many have become cautious. Libel has also been strongly applied to websites in Thailand, and web masters often censor user comments so that they are not held responsible for others' content on their websites.

One of the effects of being able to get news and information online is that people tend to seek out information that has a bias that they agree with. Neutral sources do exist and their neutrality is based upon writing factually and not practicing self censorship. Sites that are for social media contain many points of view and also serve as a cost-effective method of communication and are used for e-commerce by small businesses. Individuals and businesses that depend on all users being able to access their sites would be greatly harmed by being blocked and sites can be blocked in their entirety even when just a single bit of content is deemed unlawful.

While censorship of the internet may not be noticeable to you now, the proposal of single gateway internet in Thailand should concern you.

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Please #ShareResponsibly and Don't Be a Jerk

8/18/2015

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We've commented on Twitter and Facebook the last few days to mention that after major incidents information can be mistranslated, misunderstood and even distorted. For the past two days after the bombing in Bangkok, there have been many people on social media sharing blogs and other "sources of news" that are indeed spread false information. Even some news sources considered trustworthy have made some mistakes, possibly due to relying on social media.

While it may seem helpful to share on social media 'new' information posted online, if it turns out to be wrong it's harmful. By sharing rumors, at best, you may be adding confusion to the story. At worst, you may be spreading panic and fear.

There are many people writing rumors they've heard from people they know on social media, some of them genuinely believe what they are writing. It may be well-intentioned sharing, but ask yourself how many times are rumors and gossip about people actually 100% true? If someone genuinely thinks they have helpful information, it should be given to those working on the investigation first... and please look carefully at the sketch before turning in any fair-skinned, thin man with a prominent nose you know. The sketch of the Bangkok bombing suspect may seem vague, but there is visual information there.

Some bloggers are appointing themselves as amatuer journalists or detetectives for a variety of reasons: internet fame, money, excitement and/or to further their own agendas. These people only have their own interests in mind. Normally, we'd link to sources and demonstrate our point but in this case, no links. In almost every instance of blogs sharing 'new' information that turns out to be false, there are ads for revenue and clickbait titles. Try not to click when you see them, it only encourages them.

If you must share something clickbait-y, may we suggest:
Buzzfeed's 100 Most Important Cat Pictures Of All Time

It may not be helpful or relevant, but it's not harmful and cats!

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Why Would A Thai Deny The Holocaust on Facebook?

5/16/2015

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On April 20, Rungguna Kitiyakara wrote a post on his Facebook page wishing Adolf Hitler a happy birthday. As if that isn't offensive or absurd enough, he commemorates the occasion with a long anti-Semitic rant and claims the Holocaust not real, it is a conspiracy.

Rungguna Kitiyakara, nazi, Hitler, thai, Thailand

He goes on for a long while, click for full text with computer translation.

Adolf Hitler is often spoken about as someone that sought to make Germany "Self sufficient," which is also a buzzword in Thai rhetoric about the economy. While the phrase appears to be the same, they are not the same concepts. Germany was rebuilt with the help of the Allies after WWII and its economic strength today is not because of the economic policies put in place by Hitler. Thailand does not accept economic aid and even refused it after the 2014 Boxing Day Tsunami. The histories of these two nations are very different and these types of parallels are weak comparisons at best.

Much of the text of this post is from Neonazi propaganda. Mentions of Hitler giving the people cruises, free college educations, doubling the minimum wage and giving ten year affordable mortgaged homes are mentioned. It is one thing to be able to understand the words written in neonazi works, but this type of appropriation takes it without the social context as neonazi groups are reviled and/or banned in most Western European nations. (The Thai Language opinion piece, In Her View did a good job discussing the propaganda issue.)

Our first thought is why? While nobody has the ability to go into the mind of this man (not sure we'd want to anyway) what we can do is to look at other instances we've seen these ideas presented in Thailand.

For legal reasons, it is important to note that we are writing about these ideas as an opinion of a small minority of Thais, not specifically about Rungguna Kitiyakara's post.

The small amount that is included about Europe during WWII in the standard Thai textbooks is one page in Mathayom Five. Most of the content emphasizes Germany's economic strife before WWII and the Holocaust is not explicitly mentioned or dealt with.

Thai-Textbook- matayom- matahyom- WWII, ww2, thai, thailand, education, germany, holocaust

Thai textbook mentioning WWII in Europe

The Holocaust denial mentioned in Thailand is the usual brand of conspiracy theory trope. While it's pointless to argue with such ideas as the camps being staged as they are absurd, the numbers and people stated in these theories are almost always wrong. Half of the deaths from the Holocaust were non-Jews: Roma, Polish, homosexuals, handicapped and political prisoners. These groups are almost always excluded by neonazi propaganda as they don't fit into the conspiracy notion neatly.

The propaganda quoted from a few "elites" and the small amount of information taught in schools (we wonder who writes the textbooks) trickle down into the culture that can be seen in kitschy fashion, protest signs and even school events. (Click here for a brief timeline video.)

On Facebook, many Thais have disagreed with the post, others have said it is new "information" or agree. The Israeli Embassy in Thailand has issued a statement about the post, as of Friday, May 15th there has been no official response.

This type of ugliness is more able to grow shrouded in darkness, away from criticism and those that bring new more enlightened information. This information has come to light because of Thai people that saw it and brought our attention by letting their strenuous objections become known. While it is sad to find such odious sentiments proudly stated so publicly, it has been illuminating, to say the least. With hope, this may lead some to seek out their own unbiased information.

To make the point about Holocaust denial being highly offensive, below is original footage taken soon after the concentration camps were freed. The video below is very graphic and not advised for small children or people sensitive to such material.

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A Collection Of Links On the Latest Story

5/15/2015

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We are aware of the remarks made on Facebook by M.L. Roongkun Kitiyakara that became public yesterday. This photo was posted along with the post.

Image via Khaosod English, click for full article.

More Links:
Bangkok Post story
Response by Mr. Simon Roded, Ambassador of Israel, to M.L. Roongkun Kitiyakara's post, English Language, Thai Language

While we are not journalists, we want to get more of the story before commenting. Part of our mission is to understand why these incidents happen, and to present a nuanced and in-depth perspective that is culturally sensitive to all.

It is true that Thailand's History curriculum does not cover the Holocaust properly, mysterious propaganda like the photo does emerge from people claiming to be 'educated'. On one of our Thai language videos, we had a comment made that could be summed up as everybody hates the Jews. We are able to delete the comment (as is the poster) but left it on the video to show that the sentiment does exist. The comment also comes from someone that is under eighteen years old.

Comment on our Q&A (ถาม-ตอบ) video.

Thai language version of the Q&A video where the comment above was madeEn

English language version of the video.

We will be looking further into this current issue and are also seeking others' perspectives on it. Please let us know if you have something to add! You can email us below or message us on Facebook.

EDIT:
Here are two more links to the story:

Please note that this link has inflammatory language, but I have included it as it as it has a link to the original facebook post: http://frauenschaft.com/2015/05/14/thai-royal-expresses-admiration-for-hitler-on-facebook/ We also have screeenshots, in case the post gets deleted.

Voice TV's In Her View (Thai Language video) http://news.voicetv.co.th/thailand/205182.html

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We Can Only Guess

2/2/2015

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Via @CoconutsBangkok, click for their full story.

What likely started out as a fairly routine story at Coconuts Bangkok about a construction project in Bangkok going way over schedule, became another one of those things we need to comment about. In this rendering of the new terminal at Bangkok's Don Mueang there is a Nazi plane hanging from the ceiling. (You war history buffs can tell us more in the comments.)

We cannot speculate why this particular plane was used here, as it could be Nazi chic again or it could be an issue of someone at a computer using an image they did not understand (to be Nazi.) When further information is known, we will be able to comment further upon the incident.

[Just as some friendly advice to anyone involved in the making of this mistake, just claim it was a stock photo edited in by an intern when you asked for a passenger plane, don't make any other excuses, apologize quickly and then say nothing else and then don't do it again. You're welcome!]

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Why Remember?

1/22/2015

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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. Today, Survivors will lay wreaths and light candles at the so-called Death Wall at Block 11 to mark 70 years since the camp's liberation, and remember those who never left. Human Rights and Holocaust organizations worldwide mark the event and distribute educational materials.

Genocides have continued to happen well into the twenty-first century and while they start in different ways, they start with the idea that human rights don't apply to everyone. Awareness of human rights and speaking out to ally with groups that are marginalized is the best way to honor the memory of all of the victims of genocides.

Here is an index (with links) of genocides worldwide:

3 Twentieth century

And finally, our video on why it matters:

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The Year In Review

12/28/2014

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year in review 2014 nazi thailand history

Many readers have found us over the course of this year as two stories about Nazi chic in Thailand broke this year. In July, the World Cup showed up on Instagram as a Nazi themed World Cup party that circulated in Thailand. This month, the Twelve Values video that was created by the government became a Worldwide story, mostly as odd news op ed pieces. While it is good that we are able to share our free resources (and ask for help in gathering more) we also are genuinely concerned that this issue continues to be a problem. The fewer of these incidents happen in Thailand, the closer we are to finishing this project and working on something new.

We have also expanded our mission, as the Nazi chic items in Thailand are caused by a deeper issue. Thailand continues to be deeply divided politically (as are many nations) and these differences of ideology can cause a lack of empathy for people on the opposite side. Criticism of one side can also label someone as belonging to the opposite politically ideology. A lot of political conversation is also lacking important Historical background information and devolves into name calling. We are neutral on Thai politics (as we've mentioned many times) but we would like to facilitate civil, meaningful and productive conversations on politics.

We also see the value of the Humanities ignored and we would like to bring awareness of the value that they bring to society as a whole. In September, we had an art show selling posters that were fun displays that advocated for History, empathy and civil discussions. We know many teachers now have purchased them and we have been invited to come speak at schools. If you would like us to come talk at your school in Bangkok contact us below, and it's free!

Our plan for 2015 is to continue with social media, art and speaking to further the ideas of empathy, History and unity. If you want to contribute, we are asking for stories relevant to Thailand from people about dealing with stereotypes. We are looking for people of all ages, gender identities, races, nationalities, religions and any other grouping you can think of to narrate short stories about their experiences for us to animate into a video. Stories can be sad, funny, touching as long as they are yours. Please send us an email or comment to participate.