Dance of discord
Re: “‘Khon’ dance no reason for discord”, (Editorial, Dec 2).
It is nice that Cambodia’s and Thailand’s versions of the Indian epic have been awarded UN recognition. Who, other than that fugitive former Thai PM who famously boasted in March 2003 that “the UN is not my father”, would not be proud of such august recognition to confirm their worth? Will the current PM now also start to admire the UN suggestions that Thailand respect democracy and human rights, or will he favour the policy of the great fugitive?
But I also wonder: could the Post kindly tell us how many Thai people have ever seen a khon performance, unless forced to sit through one on a school outing? How many Thais today have any interest in doing so? Is it closer to 10% of the population or to 1%? This is a relevant statistic, but I was unable to find any figures.
My guess is that it’s much closer to 1% than to 10%, but I might be totally wrong. Like other myths of amazing Thainess, could it be that solid, factual statistics are banned on the grounds that they would reveal truths that do not comport with enforced fantasies? Is Thai nationalism founded on nothing more substantial than myths told by unseen players hiding behind masks lest reality become known? The symbolism seems all too literal.
In fairness, I am reminded of the West. Our cultural font is Homer’s Iliad, yet how many citizens of Western nations have ever read him in any language? Brad Pitt and Eric Bana’s mild-mannered version in Troy is nice, but that niceness doesn’t really do Homer justice. How many have thrilled to that blood-soaked tale of vengeance, loyalty and humanity, complete with gore, sex, violence, betrayal, randy gods acting with full human capriciousness, and with a healthy contempt for decidedly non-divine but human kings?
These elements of Homer all helped the West rise above the despotic Middle East ruled over by the likes of the dictatorial Yahweh, who gave birth to the Christian god and then to Allah, all three claiming an unbelievable, and unbelievably inhuman, omnipotent benevolence that must be held in awe, or else.
Naturally, severe dissociation from reality goes hand in hand with frothing nationalism. FELIX QUI