Thai Veterans Day

[Big Boy]

I was watching Khun Natapanu from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs giving today's Daily Brief when I noticed he was wearing his poppy with pride. A quick check of the calendar, and I confirmed it wasn't Remembrance Day. Then towards the end of the brief he told us it was in aid of Thai Veterans Day - February 3rd. I'd never heard of it, so thought I'd better check it out.

Sure enough, my mate Google knew all about it:

February 3 is annual celebration of Veterans' Day in Thailand. This day commemorates the foundation day of the War Veterans Organization of Thailand. The official remembrance ceremony takes place at Victory Monument in Bangkok. The monument was erected in 1941 to commemorate the victory of Thailand in Franco-Thai War.

Further reading told me:

In the Thai National Anthem, one phrase of the lyrics says that the Thai people love peace but when there is a war we will fight audaciously. As you know war has never given anyone happiness besides sadness, tear, and loss. In fact, the Thai people have been forced to protect our independence and sovereignty for many times in our history. Thai soldiers sacrificed their lives and blood for saving our kingdom, so that Thai people can live our lives in this country happily. Thai people reminisce about their soldiers’ bravery on this special occasion. All Thai residents heartily show respect to honor the veterans’ sacrifices on Thai Veterans Day…

In Thailand the Veterans Day is the 3rd of February every year. To praise the bravery of veterans and to help the families of soldiers who died in fighting to protect national sovereignty. The red poppy is a symbol of the veterans; it is a symbol of the blood of the soldiers who had shed their blood on the kingdom with courage and supreme sacrifice. So, in that day we shall see the poppies blooming throughout the country.
The are preparations for the sale of poppies on Veterans Day aiming to raise funds to support the troops, veterans and their families.

This day was completely new to me, so I thought I'd share it. Apologies if most of you were aware already. I found it interesting that the red poopy is used to symbolize the same thing in Thailand. However, I've never noticed poppies on sale for this charity here.

[handdrummer]

My wife told me that the poppies have been for sale every year for at least 30 yrs. They used to sell for 10 baht each.

During the Korean war poor men were lining up and begging to be inducted because if they died in battle, their families would receive a sum of money.

My wife's father was a general and poor parents would come to their house and try to bribe her mother to tell her father to take their sons. Her mother said, she didn't get involved in her husband's affairs.

Can you imagine being so poor that you'd sell your child in hopes that he'd die in battle to bring glory and honor on the nation and money to your pocket?

[sateeb]

An interesting read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Thai_War
The Franco-Thai War (Thai: กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน; French: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) (1940–1941) was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina.

[hhinner]

^^ And it was the Japanese that brokered peace between the Thais and French as the French were allies and the Thais more or less so. (Just watched some interesting videos about this on YouTube a couple of days ago).