Closing Thai-Me: Thailand BANS Full Moon parties and all public entertainment during October to mourn late king

As the headline suggests, this article by The Sun, a British Tabloid, describes the cancellation of the Full Moon parties and public entertainment this month as part mourning for the late king. This is the end of the mourning period which began last October following the death of the late king. Although the mourning period is a year long, after then initial month, certain mourning actions were relaxed, for example holding public entertainment or wearing black. Now that we are at the tail end of the mourning period that culminates in the royal cremation, mourning actions are picking up again.

The first thing I noticed about this article is the use of the uppercase 'BANS' in the headline. A ban implies some kind of legal prohibition that may lead to consequences if not followed. This contrasts with the wording used in the official Thai announcement that the interior ministry has 'asked' entertainment and music venues to 'refrain' (งด) from holding entertainment events. On the one hand, we can interpret this as The Sun simply sensationalizing the headline. On the other hand, perhaps there is an element of truth to it.

From a Thai perspective, this request from the interior ministry may not sound like an outright ban, but it is difficult to not comply. While there does not seem to be any legal repercussions, the societal repercussions may play a more important role. As mentioned in my other ripped from the headline posts, the vast majority of Thais truly loved the late king. Thus, in a scenario where someone is wearing brightly colored clothes in a public setting surrounded by others wearing black, the one wearing bright colors will feel self-conscious as others will look at them with judging eyes. We can apply this same reaction to the pressures on the entertainment venues. Perhaps the ban itself is not extrinsically imposed on the venues via law, but more of an intrinsic awareness to comply to societal norms.