Clothes can have a profound effect in winning the hearts and minds of people and in bringing down any invisible walls between them, one diplomat has found.
Swangwat Srimahakote, chief of the temporary passport office in Khon Kaen, says staff wearing traditional attire at work is not a fashion statement. It is a way of making locals more comfortable about entering the office. PHOTOS BY CHANANTHORN KAMJAN
According to Swangwat Srimahakote, an experienced diplomat who is the current chief of the temporary passport office in Khon Kaen, proper attire establishes standards that help in optimising workforce efficiency.
"I think appearance is a form of non-verbal communication that either opens the way to productive conversation or produces the opposite,” he said.
He believes this is true for providers of public services and is something civil servants with regular contact with the general public should take stock of.
When he was designated chief of the passport office in Khon Kaen, he knew the appearance of the uniformed staff had to change.
Mr Swangwat believes changing the appearance of the staff was not superficial or inconsequential, especially as it reduced the "distance" between them and people who need help with their paperwork.
In fact, changing out of uniform for more familiar attire has helped speed up work at the office. He notes that people seem less tense when they walk into the office and see female staff in phasin and traditionally-dyed cotton blouses and the male officials in typical northeastern style shirts and trousers.
Mr Swangwat has discovered that clothes are a great ice-breaker.
The Thai "culture of uniforms" has long been associated with a sense of superiority in society. A uniform can segregate state officials, who are seen as being on a higher social rung, from the people.
If a uniform breeds alienation, then it's time to do away it, says Mr Swangwat. He is putting the theory to the test in the Khon Kaen passport office and has witnessed quite a positive result.
More people chat with the staff as they come through the office door. The impression the staff have is that visitors appear to feel more at home and find that the officials are just "one of them".
Mr Swangwat said the temporary passport office in Khon Kaen is one of 14 run by the Consular Affairs Department. About 65,000 people apply for passports through the office each year. It is one of the "frontline" government offices that people have direct contact with.
A staff member proudly displays the elegance of northeastern clothing.
“This is the main provincial passport office for the northeast. People mostly in the Isan midland come to apply for passports here as it is very convenient.
"So it’s nice to build up a spirit of oneness through Thai dress and traditional decorations [in the office] which I choose as an aid,” he said.
Mr Swangwat said he wanted to rebrand the passport office, turning it from a regular, mundane-looking government agency into one which has the features of what could be called a "boutique office" that showcases the local Thai identity, from attire to stationary.
He was once told by a colleague not to bother challenging the status quo.
“One of my colleagues said the workplace is just a place where people come to do their work and leave after the job is done,” Mr Swangwat said.
“The frills and decorations are unnecessary. But I have a different opinion since I believe that the workplace can be our second home."
Sprucing up the office with flowers and being surrounded by staff clad in local dress made with silk and cotton, Mr Swangwat said, can break the tradition of uniformity and boost the local identity.
When he moved from the southernmost province of Yala to Khon Kaen, Mr Swangwat hammered home an important message: Staff should dress to blend in with the locals in a convivial office atmosphere while delivering efficient public services.
“I told the staff to wear traditional dress three days a week. The dress doesn’t have to be Thai silk, but an Isan-style fabric, to show that we hold dear to our local tradition,” said Mr Swangwat, a Khon Kaen native.
His initiative to introduce a local dress code has raised Mr Swangwat's local profile. He recently received a certificate from the Culture Ministry honouring his promotion of Thai culture.
Born into a poor farming family, Mr Swangwat, 50, and his six siblings were raised on the meagre income his parents brought home from rice farming. Life was hard.
“My mother told me she took an abortion pill when she knew she was pregnant with me. I was lucky to have survived,” he said.
“My mum and my older sisters went to the stupa in the village. They prayed for me to fail the university entrance exam because they simply wouldn’t be able to afford the education fees if I passed the test. But I did pass,” he said.
Mr Swangwat studied at the faculty of arts, Chulalongkorn University, majoring in English.
At the university, Mr Swangwat joined the association of students from the Northeast, which kept him in touch with his roots.
“The association made me feel like there was a home away from home — Isan dance, mor lum, luk thung songs and taking camps upcountry ... I knew then that I had fallen for traditional things, Thai things,” he said.
“I’ve loved wearing Thai clothes since I was a student. The Thai indigenous fabrics are inexpensive and many people around me express appreciation of them,” he added.
It launched a love affair with fabrics as he was particularly drawn to the alluring sheen and texture of Thai silk.
“Thai silk is in my closet and is a statement I make at my workplace,” he said.
Thai traditional fabrics, including silk, run in his veins, so to speak. Since he was young, his family farmed rice for a living while making silk fabric as another activity that his mother and female relatives did in their spare time.
“The process of making Thai silk is fantastic, from spinning the strand until we obtain the gorgeous silk. That is why I am in love with the fabric and I hope it is reflected in my workplace,” he said.
As a diplomat posted to various countries, including Germany and France, Mr Swangwat said the Thai identity — which is manifest in various forms, especially Thai dress — is admired by foreigners and Thais should be proud of it.
He said Thai traditional costumes turn heads.
“During my postings to Germany and France, which is home to the world’s best-known brand names and haute couture, whenever we wore Thai outfits people came to us and expressed their appreciation,” he said.
Thai officials at diplomatic mission overseas wear Thai traditional dress on ceremonial occasions and on Dec 4, the eve of His Majesty the King’s birthday which is also national day.
However, local attire could be worn every day in Thailand, Mr Swangwat said.
“We cannot force all Thais to wear the national costume every day, but I can start with myself and the people around me,” he said, adding the idea to shed the uniforms came up when he returned from Paris and was assigned chief of the temporary passport office in Chiang Mai.
The Chiang Mai passport office was the first to experiment with traditional dress and it wasn't too hard for staff to switch to clothing they are familiar with, he said.
After Chiang Mai, he was named head of the passport office in the far southern province of Yala where security and a stark cultural difference were issues he had to consider.
Tight security made people tense about contact with the authorities. The passport office staff were also doing their jobs under heavy protection and surveillance. It was not the kind of relaxing environment he enjoyed in Chiang Mai.
About 10 military personnel are deployed at the passport office, which is located in the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre. Visitors are subject to screening before they enter the building.
Mr Swangwat said despite the volatile security environment, staff still donned Muslim dress and outfits at work in the hope of at least reducing the gap between the state and the predominantly Muslim locals, who speak a different dialect.
Alienation is regarded as a prime factor in the continued hostility in the far South.
Mr Swangwat said he was hesitant at first to introduce the local dress code for his staff. But after giving it deep thought, he went ahead with the plan.
“I asked my staff to wear local Muslim clothing, since most of them are Muslims. I explained to them that we are the same people,” he said.
However, some locals maintained a distance because of the security measures which affect them as they walk into the office.
Mr Swangwat said even though the Yala office has a lot more work to do to reduce the cultural gap, wearing local attire does pay dividends.
“I can tell from the way they look at us that they like our clothing,” he said.
Mr Swangwat says he wanted to stay longer in Yala to work on the relationship-building approach, but was called back to Bangkok before being shifted to Khon Kaen.
A man applying for a passport is served by staff member wearing traditional attire.
Staff of the Khon Kaen passport office in their northeastern style clothing pose for a group photo before getting down to work.