Thailand & Cambodian netizens row over lamduan flower

A row has broken out between Thai and Cambodian netizens over Cambodia’s national flower, which is featured on posters promoting the historical Thai movie Love Destiny 2.

The Thai film studio GDH uploaded the poster on its official Facebook page on Saturday inviting audiences to reserve the tickets in advance as the film would be screened in five days on July 28.

The poster features two main characters, Thanavat “Pope” Vatthanaputi and Ranee “Bella” Campen, surrounded by the flowers Thai people call lamduan. The message on the poster states, “Lamduan flower represents eternal love.”

The poster created a huge drama between Thai and Cambodian netizens. Cambodian netizens questioned why a Thai movie would hijack the bloom, which officially became their national flower on March 21 in 2005.

The drama began after one Cambodian netizen said, “Thanks for promoting our national flower to the world, but next time don’t forget to give credit to its owner. I remind you, don’t forget your own culture or your own stuff. If you don’t know your own culture, you can go to search on Google.”

This same Cambodian netizen photoshopped the movie poster, changing the lamduan flowers into the cassia fistula flowers, or golden shower flower, the national flower of Thailand.

More Cambodian netizens joined the debate, posting pictures of historical sites where the lamduan flower is featured in the architectural designs, and pictures of Cambodian models with lamduan flower accessories.

Thai netizens hit back saying lamduan flowers could be found all over Southeast Asia, and the flower is just a prop for the movie, asking “what is the big deal?” Many Thai netizens revealed the flower was announced as a provincial flower in Sri, the Isaan province of Thailand, even before Cambodia announced it as its national flower. Some netizens claimed that the movie used the flower to represent eternal love, not any national-related aspects.

Racist comments about Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, criticism of Cambodian politics, and dirty messages were also thrown into the mix. Some Thai netizens also said the name of the country should be changed from Cambodia to “Claimbodia.”

The argument is still ongoing. More Thai and Cambodian netizens swapped insults and comments. The post has recorded more than 17,000 comments, 23,000 likes, and 11,000 shares.

The Facebook page GDH also posted the movie posters in other versions with different flowers, including the Hong Kong orchid, or white bauhinia purpurea, and red ginger lily, or etlingera elatior saying the flowers represent faithful and steady love.

Love Destiny 2, or Bupphe Sanniwat 2 in its Thai name, is a historical Thai movie. It follows after the success of the TV series Love Destiny in 2018. The series follows a female Thai history student who travels back in time to the Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1351 to 1767 and falls in love with a foreign ministry official who served the country at that time.

The romantic comedy series was successful and popular among Thai and international audiences. The 15 episodes of the Love Destiny series are available on Netflix.

SOURCE: Khaosod