Traveling to Thailand? Don't Bring '1984'

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

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 

Comments

[Hyperion]

Wow, sounds like a really fun place to visit. I have to put it on my list right below North Korea and Pakistan.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*Lights Heroic Mulatto beacon*

[Ken Shultz]

Seems like good practical advice.

It's like the advice they give you at the park about what to do if you come into contact with a bear.

Incidentally, if you're a tourist from the Philippines in New York City, it's probably not a great idea to be seen by the cops walking around with a Quran.

And if you absolutely have to take pictures of the cops and you don't want to get hassled or arrested, it's probably a good idea to ask them first.

[entropy_factor]

Those of you knocking Thailand have obviously never been. For white people with a little pocket change, Thailand is paradise.

[Robert]

Is their junta anywhere near as funny as Burma's succession of wackos? Listen to "Burmese Bear" some time.

[WTF]

I guess Animal Farm is okay?

[antisocial-ist]

Fuck them, I'll take my Van Halen albums where ever I want to.

[ATXChappy]

I for one don't find it terribly comforting that the first sentence of their PSA starts with. "Despite being under miliary control, Thailand is very safe for tourist. I guess everyone else can DIAF.

[John Thacker]

Thailand is very safe for residents as well. The military is being silly, though.

They also decided to ban Tropico 5, perhaps because it hit too close to home.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Excellent Alt Text, excellent!

[Bean Counter]

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I'd have to say that it's incredibly rude to take a selfie with ANYONE without asking their permission. It's just that soldiers in a country run by the military can probably get away with forms of violence the organ grinder with the monkey can't.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Avoid wearing red t-shirts as you will be killed in a horrific manner by an alien being.

[Bostonian_in_Gotham]

Man, first Tropico 5, now 1984. Next thing you know, they'll be banning sodas over 16 ozs.

[Bubba Jones]

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