Ambassadors outraged by Hitler billboard on Pattaya highway

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Ambassadors outraged by Hitler billboard on Pattaya highway
Published: 18/10/2009 at 12:00 AM
"Bangkok Post",Newspaper section: News
http://bangkokpost.com/news/local/25831/ambassadors-outraged-by-hitler-billboard-on-pattaya-highway
The operator of a waxworks museum in Pattaya has been forced to cover up a giant billboard of Adolf Hitler giving a Nazi salute after complaints from the Israeli and German ambassadors that it was "offensive" and "utterly tasteless".


OUTRAGE: The giant billboard promoting a waxworks museum has since been covered up by the company which has apologised for causing any offence.

The billboard - along with three others featuring famous dead people - is prominently located on the main highway into Pattaya, as part of an advertising campaign to promote Louis Tussaud's Waxworks which is due to open early next month. The Thai-language slogan on the billboard reads: "Hitler is not dead."

The managing director of the museum, Somporn Naksuetrong, apologised for the billboard and said the creative agency behind the campaign had not intended to cause offence.

"We think of Hitler as an important person, but not in a good way," he said.

"In the museum we don't show him with other world leaders, we show him in the scary section."

Mr Somporn said since the billboard was erected more than two weeks ago they had received about 100 complaints and a protest letter from the Israeli Embassy.

He said they would keep the promotional concept, but come up with another famous deceased person to replace the German dictator.

German Ambassador Hanns Schumacher noticed the billboard when he attended the opening of the Child Protection and Development Centre in Pattaya last weekend. He told representatives of the Pattaya City Council and the local business community that "this kind of utterly tasteless advertisement would hurt the feelings of many people".

"It could also create negative consequences to Pattaya as a popular tourist destination," the embassy said in a statement, adding it had contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the matter.

"The German Embassy would appreciate if the poster could be removed as quickly as possible," it said.

Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Shoham said the embassy had received many complaints over the billboard and had asked authorities involved to urgently remove "this hateful street sign".

"The image of Adolf Hitler and the writing underneath are not only offensive to the Holocaust survivors but also to anyone who deplores racist behaviour. They bring a chilling memory of a dictator who systematically murdered in horrific methods 11 million people, men, women and children, during World War II," he said

Mr Shoham said many Israeli tourists holidaying in Pattaya have been horrified to see such a sign on the main highway. "It is totally unacceptable to have such a monster like Adolf Hitler on public display," he said. "How this could happen is beyond my understanding and comprehension. The billboard should be removed not within days but within hours."

He also urged the operators to remove the Hitler waxwork from the museum.

Displaying Nazi images is not an offence under Thai law, but in Germany it is a criminal offence carrying penalties of up to three years in jail.

Mr Somporn said they were considering offering discounted entry to the museum by way of an apology.