DRAWING heavy criticism online is a photo of a yellow-shirt rally in southern Songkhla province where a Costa Rican flag and not a Thai one was used in the stage backdrop, Sanook.com reported this afternoon (Oct. 28, 2020).
The Facebook page Vivatha V2 shared this photo last night showing the stage at the yellow-shirt rally in Bang Klam district of this southern province on Sunday Oct. 25 with the backdrop emblazoned with the Costa Rican flag.
The flag of the Kingdom of Thailand shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four.
On the other hand while the Costa Rican flag also has five horizontal bands, the colours are blue, white, red (double width), white and blue.
Even though the image drew heavy criticism online, Vivatha V2 did post information about Costa Rica for readers to get a better understanding of that country.
Meanwhile Assoc. Prof. Kovit Wongsurawat, a political science scholar, also shared a post via Twitter about this switch, stating that Bang Klam residents used the Costa Rican flag as a symbol because Costa Rica is a truly democratic country.
There has never been a coup d’etat there making Costa Rica one of the world’s most politically stable countries. The key point is that this country does not have soldiers or armies according to its 1949 constitution.
The Public Force of Costa Rica is the country’s law enforcement force, which performs policing and border patrol functions, Wikipedia said.
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Top: The photo shared by Vivatha V2 Facebook page showing the Costa Rican flag atop the stage backdrop. Thai headline says, “Distorted flag colour.” Photo shared by Sanook.com
