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Phuket Poser: Would Hitler Enjoy a Phuket Tuk-Tuk Holiday Getaway?
By Alan Morison Tuesday, October 4, 2011
PHUKET: Trust Adolf Hitler to come to Phuket's assistance with a little humor when it's needed.
There's a video extract on You Tube now that will probably have even some of Phuket's own little dictators laughing.
Anything involving Hitler and Nazis is a risky business these days, with a Chiang Mai school being roundly condemned last week for hanging out Nazi banners and permitting a parade of students that appeared to endorse the Hitler philosophy rather than laugh at it.
The famous Hitler bunker sequence from the film 'Downfall' has been turned to all manner of satire since the much-awarded film first appeared in 2004. And now, thanks to an observant reader, we've learned that it's Phuket's turn.
''This is our plan for our holiday to Thailand,'' the fuhrer is being told by one of his underlings in the English-language subtitles.
''After we land in Bangkok we will head down to Patong which is in Phuket.
''Once we get to our hotels we will all take the tuk-tuk to the beach and relax on the beach.''
Hitler interrupts: ''But I heard these tuk-tuk drivers around Patong rip everyone off.''
Back comes the response: ''Boss . . . they . . . They are a cool way to get around and cost 400 baht from the hotel which is 2km away from the beach.''
Hitler: ''I will not take a tuk-tuk in Patong, they are more expensive than taxis in New York.''
It would spoil a viewing to give away too much of the plot, but the alternative script is spiced with ladyboy lovers and other twists and turns that could only have been conceived by someone who knows and understands Phuket well.
One viewer commented: ''This is so true....lol
''PS. I'm Thai and lived in Phuket for years. I found this rather informative and I don't think it's offensive at all.''
Phuketwan didn't find it offensive either. There's a big difference between laughing at a monster, and laughing with him.
The wartime allies in 1939-45 laughed at Hitler to lift morale, although we do understand that there are those whose suffering was so great that Hitler could never be a figure of fun.
We're glad to see though, that Phuket too can still laugh at itself. And we're reliable informed that some of Phuket's senior marketing people are having a good laugh as they send on the video to friends.
The You Tube video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JQpVmBZSc
What did you think of Hitler's Phuket ''adventure''? Tell us in Comments below.
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Comments
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A harmless bit of parody summing up the current situation in Phuket. Good job it emanated from Europe or those naughty Thais would get an ear-bashing again!! Anyone angered by this seriously needs to get a life.
Posted by
Mister ree
on
October 4, 2011 12:06
In fact there many version on YouTube by typing on search engine: hitler phuket youtube
The best one is Hitler investing in a Phuket dive center at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyk0gB43d1g
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
October 4, 2011 12:56
Editor Comment:
Swearing is funny? Sorry, bad language makes this one second-rate.
Not harmless!!! As German I am very embarrassed and disgusted that you would include such a video on your website. It was bad enough that one week ago children in Chiang Mai dressed up like Nazis. This is not funny in any way. It makes me sick that people still think of Germans in this way, after 70 years later!
Posted by
Dieter
on
October 4, 2011 13:21
Editor Comment:
The clip from the German film has been used in many satires, Dieter, and the Phuket send-up makes fun of Phuket, not Germans or Germany. The Chiang Mai incident was different and not funny.
Hilarious, also enjoyed another clip about the Thai election result. Great satire.
Posted by
spud67
on
October 4, 2011 16:09
So funny. As a German I had a good laugh with the video, I had to try hard to read the text, as I could understand the original rant. Even so the original movie is quite a good one.
The new text is very informative and must be from someone who loves Thailand, no tips for Malaysia or other destinations. Next time I'll check some places mentioned there. :)
Posted by
Lena
on
October 4, 2011 16:24
I found the clip hilarious and if you've nothing better to do it's worth checking out the other videos in the sequence.
Posted by
agogohome
on
October 4, 2011 17:26
As a Jew and someone who has spent a lot of time in Israel I think that to laugh "at" or "with" is not the point. People should be educated about Hitler not joke about him. He was a monster. I once met a man standing who looked lost stadning in a wool suit (made for a cold climate) in the baking August Israeli sun and asked was he visiting Israel and he replied he was from Belgium and ALL his family had been killed in WW11, the only remaining relative was in Israel who he had come to see. I am sure people like him would be offended by this article. I remind you that in addition to the Jews Russia lost 20million people in WWII and I am sure that many Russians will not find this funny. It should be taken down immediately.
Posted by
AdamAndEve
on
October 4, 2011 18:27
Editor Comment:
The article is harmless.The video is, so we have been told, offensive to Germans and to Jews . . . and now, you say, to Russians. Yet the joke is about Phuket. WWII ended 66 years ago - when the world fortunately began to regain its sense of humor.
Satire wasted on the very fools it's aimed at in the land of smiles.There is one thing Dieter that the Nazi incident in Chang Mai has done it's got people talking and it has maybe helped educate a few more Thais about the deplorable acts Germany carried out in the second world war which can maybe help prevent people like Hitler and organisations like the Nazi party ever taking power again. I was amazed by the amount of Thais who have no clue about WW2 in general and what part the Nazis played in it, it should never be forgotten, even if Germany would love to forget it, Dieter.
Posted by
Scunner
on
October 4, 2011 19:13
Thanks to the one who edited the VDO - great job !! Also the one about the Dive Center, even better. Same handwriting !! Give us one more...
Posted by
Resident
on
October 4, 2011 19:18
Ed, You should take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
Deaths on this scale all over the world should not be laughed at in any form. It is very disrespectful to the dead and the surviving injured and living relatives and friends. In addition the division of Berlin went on a long time after the war, so it is not all a long time ago.
Posted by
AdamAndEve
on
October 4, 2011 19:28
Editor Comment:
We know our war history. The butt of the joke, in this case, and in every other satirisation of the ''bunker'' footage we've seen, is one person: Adolf Hitler. Your defence of Hitler's image is bizarre.
The Phuket one is very well written, and has the goood timing, BUT the dive shop one is terrible...if you laugh at the word f**k everytime it comes out then I am afraid you are a moron, or should i say, a f**king moron !
Posted by
TheComedyInspector
on
October 4, 2011 19:46
It's ridiculous for people to not want Hitler broadcast (in any circumstances historical or in comedy) as they find this 'offensive.' It's like the faux-outrage over religion we hear all the time. You cannot just sweep it under the carpet and hope it's never discussed. Get over yourselves. Today's Germany is a great country, with great people.
Posted by
Jon
on
October 4, 2011 21:09
I, having earlier called Hitler a monster find your comment, Mr Editor (no name) "Your defence of Hitler's image is bizarre" is so sad. Why are you hiding behind a name of Mr Editor for a regional website in Thailand? I am clearly not defending him. What is your name, I know in advance that you will not say as you are ashamed and your futile attempt to try and drum up drama is pathetic. Clearly you work for a small publication. I will let larger publications know about you and let them decide. As you will not give your name who runs the phuketwan?
Posted by
AdamAndEve
on
October 4, 2011 21:20
Editor Comment:
Alan Morison is my name. And what's yours, AdamAndEve? Where have your disturbing views been formed? And why is it beyond your understanding to know that free speech is the way to beat ''monsters,'' that bullies encourage them, and that size is not important?
Ve vill make you haf a good holiday, vishout der tuk tuks und taxis ja. Mien goodness I sort he vos dead already? Good dubing whever did the video clip.
Phukey at it's best, seen by outsiders eyes.
Posted by
Dun
on
October 4, 2011 22:15
@ TheComedyInspector:
I suggest you change your nick to 'moraliser', try to wake up and face reality. Looks like that you are a newbie in town...otherwise you would easily recon the real people behind the actors and where the clip is aiming on - and then you definitely would laugh, too.
Posted by
Resident
on
October 5, 2011 07:48
I am a touch uncomfortable about Hitler-related satire, especially when, with a video such as this, it almost "normalises" him. And as the Editor points out, the war ended 66 years ago.
With the end of the war so ended the need to parody him and make him an object of satire, which was a necessary and credible weapon in the fight against Nazism.
However, as with the rather bizarre but somewhat unsurprising incident at the school in Chiang Mai, it might, I suppose, help broaden the education of world history (particularly the effect of the first 50 years of the 20th century on the rest of the world) in Thailand. Do that, though, and it might also be necessary to examine Japan's occupation of Thailand during WWII.
Yes, Thailand put up very creditable resistance, but at the same time allowed Japanese forces unfettered use of ports, railways, airfields & c. It might also raise questions about the children fathered in Thailand by the occupying forces, which is perhaps the most taboo part of an uncomfortable period in Thailand's history.
We all know the origin of the swastika and its use in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, mostly as a symbol of good luck, and that the symbol was perverted by the Nazis in 1920.
Swastikas, even stylised Nazi versions, are found in Asian fashions, therefore perhaps, to a degree, it is almost understandable that young Thais do not understand the abhorrent feelings (most) in the West (except part of the Finnish Air Force, which has used the swastika since the end of WWI) have for the symbol. And don't forget the Ontarian town of Swastika...
I have seen motorcycle helmets in the style of the Wehrmacht "stahlhelm" helmet, even with SS flashes and Nazi swastikas on them, worn by Thais and shrug it off as one of those cultural differences we must get used to.
However, when I see Westerners wearing the same, I feel like forcing them off the road and into a ditch.
Posted by
Tanya Millibank
on
October 5, 2011 17:25
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A harmless bit of parody summing up the current situation in Phuket. Good job it emanated from Europe or those naughty Thais would get an ear-bashing again!! Anyone angered by this seriously needs to get a life.
Posted by Mister ree on October 4, 2011 12:06