When The14 October 73 Memorial Foundation and Pridi Panomyong Institute joined together to hold a drawing competition for primary school students on the topic of Complete Democracy Intention late last year, few would have expected such stark results.
When The14 October 73 Memorial Foundation and Pridi Panomyong Institute joined together to hold a drawing competition for primary school students on the topic of Complete Democracy Intention late last year, few would have expected such stark results.
The selected works (see below) from participating artists, who are all in their prathom years, were announced back on Dec 7 last year, and not only do they show the kids' impressive drawing skills, but also their perception of Thai politics.
Kasidit Boonchalakulkosol from Patumthani, in prathom 3, drew a big white pigeon carrying two peasants in the air, and captures the role that watching TV plays in the current political climate with his drawing of a man waving a Thai flag in front of a television.
But perhaps the most stark image comes in from the work by Pitaya Thongsai from Surat Thani: a pencil-colored picture that shows gunfire exchange and grenade throwing amid a clash between protestors and police officers beside a blocked road.
The release of these images come just after a Suan Dusit opinion poll showed that 89 percent of Thai children were not interested in a career in politics.
The images also suggest parents take a look at their children's information intake, as Pranee Muangnoi, a specialist in paediatrics at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit in Bangkok Hospital, told The Nation last year, that although children below 12 do not fully understand what people are saying, they can absorb the words and actions.