Thai government promotes the 5 Fs: Food, films, fashion, fighting and festivals

The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce responded to the policy to promote Thailand’s ‘soft power’ from PM Prayut and has launched Thailand’s “5 Fs soft power,” which aims to promote five major Thai cultures to international eyes… food, films, fashion, fighting and festivals.

“Soft power” is indirect or spontaneous promotion of Thai culture by celebrities, sportspeople and musicians to a broader, international audience.

PM Prayut praised the K-Pop singers, Lisa from Blackpink and Bambam from Got7, for helping bring Thai culture to an international stage. He also praised a Thai rapper Milli for boosting Thailand’s soft power by introducing Mango Sticky Rice to the world at the international music festival Coachella (despite issuing legal proceedings against her months earlier for her public criticism of the Thai government… seems he forgot).

The PM says he wants to make the ‘soft power’ and creative industries in Thailand known worldwide and urged both state departments and the private sector to highlight the country’s soft power in the businesses.

Yesterday, the Government Public Relations introduced the 5 Fs on the official Facebook page…

“Make It Better Known Worldwide.”

The pictures included in the post featured examples of 5 major Thai cultures that the Ministry of Culture wanted to highlight. The first picture that represented Thai food was the well-known Thai dish spicy Tom Yum Kung. The second picture for the film was a historical Thai drama named Buppe San Niwas or Love Destiny (available on Netflix). The third picture represented Thai fashion was fabric with Thai-style patterns. Then, the martial arts Muay Thai or Thai boxing, and the last one was the picture of Thai traditional Loy Kratong Day, which presented traditional Thai festivals.

Except for some negative critiques of the mundane artwork, many Thai netizens shared and commented on the post saying “it was a good start”. Some even shared alternative soft power with ‘transport’… the Thai footpaths and ‘technology’… the muddled coils of electric wires.

One foreigner suggested the government had forgotten one ‘F’ … face masks. The Thaiger can think of a few more.

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SOURCE: PR Thai Government