Peaceful yet violent: the Thai paradox that still baffles the West

The scene of the recent bombing at the Erawan shrine has swiftly been remodelled to make it seem as though nothing happened. Upbeat slogans – ‘Stronger Together’ – and a forensically dubious ‘clean-up’ have gone hand in hand with a media campaign to reassure millions of tourists that they are safe in the Land of Smiles. The Chinese, however, have cancelled many of their vacations and the investigation rumbles on inconclusively, as is often the way with Thai investigations, which usually peter out in a vague inconclusiveness.

An image is starting to form of Thailand as a uniquely dangerous tourist destination, riven by political violence and unprovoked attacks on hapless tourists. The film industry often tells a similar story: ‘No Escape’, which stars Owen Wilson, and is released next week, capitalises on this same emotion. It features western tourists being mown down from helicopters by vaguely composite Thai-Burmese thugs armed with machine guns. Primal fears, and evergreen hysterias.