Multiverse Tatler | 7.05.05

Thailand Tatler — one of the nine Asia Tatlers — promises to take you “behind the scenes and reveals the fascinating lives and stories of the rich and powerful in Thailand”.

It is being coy. This glossy doesn’t just take you behind the scene, but transports you to parallel universes. Take a look, if you don’t believe me, at this “frontispiece” from the June 2004 issue:

Over the Wall

Despite the fact that some 30 years ago the Cold War was raging in Europe and America was in the grip of “Reds under the Bed” paranoia, on 30 June, 1975, Thailand became one of the first countries to open diplomatic channels with the People’s Republic of China. On that day Thai prime minister MR Kukrit Pramoj and his colleague Gen Chatichai Choonhavan, minister of foreign affairs, arrived on an official visit to China and were met by Deng Xiaoping, then deputy prime minister, at Peking (Beijing) airport. Official diplomatic discussions took place at the Chiang Kai-shek Great Citizen Hall and an exchange of ambassadors was agreed. The following day Chinese prime minister Zou Enlai and MR Kukrit Signed a formal agreement to establish links in trade and culture. The Thai envoys were also granted an audience with legendary Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. [emphasis added]

There you have it, the key to the multiverses and beyond.

Either that or the inhabitants of this universe need immediately to recalibrate their perceptions of Thailand’s so-called “high society”, “educated elites” and “journalists”.

23:56 ▪ media

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