When Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha apologized for his backward remarks about women risking violence by wearing swimwear, it was respectably unqualified. He said “I’m sorry” instead of the usual “I’m sorry that you misunderstood.”
However the state media apparatus, likely more concerned with image-polishing than the substance of his comments, managed to completely turn the apology on its head.
A National News Bureau release headlined “PM regrets upsetting foreigners with comments on Brits’ murder” (certainly no loyal subjects would object to blaming women) starts out reasonably enough:
After his previous remarks citing foreigners’ wearing of bikinis on the beach as a possible cause of crimes similar to the recent slaying of two British visitors to Koh Tao, Gen Prayuth said he would like to offer his apology to anyone who might have been disturbed by his words.
Then, like a newspaper correction that just repeats the same mistake, NNT’s explanation goes off the rails, completely invalidating the apology:
He affirmed he had never intended to insult foreigners but was only trying to encourage them to give more importance to their own safety during their visit by refraining from dressing provocatively.
So, to be clear, are we saying the general apologized for saying women might be harmed for what they wear because what he really meant is that women might be harmed for what they wear? Thanks for that.
Instead of just writing it off as NNT propaganda, it leaves one wondering if they’re even capable of “getting” what the problem was.
It’s not just offensive and backward, but attempts to defend it under the aegis of “cultural difference” fall apart as inconsistent. As a number of commentators have pointed out, the government promotes destinations such as Koh Tao with images that seem to suggest: Great place to relax and wear a bikini. There don’t appear to be any warnings of violent consequences.
