As a dryly ironic spectator of Northern Thai life, I find it sometimes necessary to comment on the more worrisome aspects of Thai life as well as its more entertaining ones. Today served an example of a potentially worrisome sign in the indoctrination efforts of teachers toward students in the humble village where I reside, which has recently seen a few protests (organized, no doubt, by teachers and university students) by children who appear to be gaining an education in street marches (with vegan food provided at march’s end) but who have not yet entirely mastered the spirit of protest that their teachers are apparently trying to instill in them.

A few days ago there was a protest march against smoking that I paid little heed to, since there is often a difficulty in telling the difference between a protest march and a religious procession given the similarity of music with the drums and melody that herald the march, as well as the ubiquity of trucks and vans with recorded slogans and messages bringing up the rear of the procession, a fairly typical aspect of Thai political life [1]. When the first protest march came through a few days ago I paid it little mind.

But now that there has been a second protest march coming so rapidly upon the first, I was a bit more concerned, especially as I saw the elementary school students holding incomprehensible signs (they were in Thai), with the red circle and slash over a picture of a mosquito. Now, I know that mosquitoes are not the most lovable of creatures, given as their bites are immensely common here and very unpleasant, and given the fact that mosquitoes spread a lot of very unpleasant diseases (like malaria). I myself have a long and rather hostile history with the animals myself, and no one should suggest that I am a fan of mosquitoes by any means.

Nonetheless, it’s not as if mosquitoes are something you can really protest about. Being animals with miniscule brains and instincts telling them to sting, they do what they do, and no amount of marching and protesting is going to be able to have a bit of impact on their behavior. I mean, I had thought at first that the march was against the potentially toxic and foul-smelling spraying that had just been done by the village a couple of days ago, but it appears that the protest was more against those who leave standing water (rather difficult to avoid given the fact that it is rainy season in a summer monsoonal climate in a village with numerous creeks, rivers, streams, and other water running through and around it).

In short, I’m not really sure what the organizers of this protest march hoped to prove, considering that Thailand has a lot of water and therefore a lot of mosquitoes this time of year. No one really likes mosquitoes, but at the same time no one is intentionally breeding the loathsome creatures either, and in fairness to them they are just doing what they do, and breeding where they can in a place where a lot of water can be found. It’s not as if the village itself has a great infrastructure when it comes to draining water, or that it is likely to develop one anytime soon either.

What is of concern to me is that these kids appear to be learning the wrong kind of lessons about life and protest. For one, it appears as if they expect far too much of their governments, if the mosquito protest march was designed at swaying popular opinion to demand certain infrastructure improvements. (Similarly, it is unclear what the intent of the anti-smoking march was either; smoking is a big problem in Thailand, but what one does about it can vary from moral suasion to banning it in public places to a wide variety of other strategies.) Additionally, it is a very worrisome development from a political science perspective when students learn from a young age that if there is something that they dislike that they march in protest about it.

As far as protests go, today’s march was a peaceful one. It had food (some of my fellow teachers enjoyed it), it had music, and there were no violent episodes, even if I drew a lot of attention as a farang looking upon their march down the street in front of the school. The problem is not in the act itself, but in its implications. Today the young students march almost in lockstep protesting mosquitoes. What do they protest about when they are older? Will it always be peaceful, or will there be a threat of mob violence in the future behind their marching? After all, marching is not an opportunity for civil and nuanced and rational political discourse, but rather there is a hint of coercion and the threat of mob or military violence and the power of an organized group of people, whether civilian or military personnel, at least subconsciously working in operation.

And frankly, I find that rather troubling. It is pointless to march if one dislikes mosquitoes, as they are something that nobody likes. But what does one plan on doing about it, or what does one urge others to do about it? That is the question. The same is true for smoking and for a wide variety of other bothersome aspects of life? What is the point of protesting if one does not have some kind of idea or proposal or demand that one is making on one’s government or one’s fellow citizens. And if one is making demands in such a provocative fashion, what demands are those, and what assumptions and worldviews are behind them? Are these young people learning anything about the seriousness of their actions, or the implications that it is more fun and enjoyable to protest than it is to think and write and seriously and rationally about such matters, seeking to do what one can to set a good example rather than coerce or intimidate your fellow citizens to act according to your demands? I suspect not.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/ice-cream-truck-jingles/