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World

Traveling to Thailand? Don't Bring '1984'

"You don't want to be mistaken for an anti-coup protestor."

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 8.6.2014 11:52 AM

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Large image on homepages | timrich26/Flickr
(timrich26/Flickr)
pallih/Flickr

An in-flight magazine for travelers to Thailand offers some friendly advice on how to win friends and influence people in a country led by military junta.

"Despite being under miliary control, Thailand is very safe for tourists," chirps the magazine copy, shared by Twitter user @joe_black317 this week. But for "good measure" you might want to take a few minor precautions, such as avoiding the color red, refraining from taking selfies with soldiers sans their consent, and for godssakes ditching your dystopian novels on the plane. 

"Don't carry George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984," the Philippine Airlines magazine warns in tip number four. "You don't want to be mistaken for an 'anti-coup protestor.'" (But The Hunger Games is okay, right?)

Read the whole list below. With other tips including "If you must have that selfie with a soldier, be polite and ask his permission first," it's hard to tell if this was meant in jest or in earnest. I'm hoping for bizarre sincerity, though. Otherwise this magazine thinks military coup d'etat and a people's oppression are all in good fun, or at least nothing to let rain on a good vacation. 

Next up from Philippine Airlines: 5 fashion tips for visiting the Gaza Shore!

@joe_black317/Twitter

h/t Dazed 

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NEXT: White House Wants to Redact the Hell Out of Torture Report. Will a Leaker Save Us?

Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason.

WorldThailandAirlinesMediaAirports
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