Change you can believe in, or pie in sky?

Change you can believe in, or pie in sky?

What was seemingly an earnest campaign to illuminate Bangkok in a manner not involving digital billboards or aircraft warning lights has put the spotlight on truth in advertising and the ethics of social campaigns targeting Thai netizens.

Over the past two weeks, quite a few people must have faced a huge dilemma on whether they should (or even could) withdraw their name from a petition run on the Change.org website calling for Bangkok to have a new national knowledge centre.

It all started after a six-minute video clip of an ostensible everyman went viral. The man, calling himself Meena Chotekham, told a few hipsterish types why Thais deserve a new learning centre in the city, and not another condo, hotel or shopping mall. Meena wrapped up the clip by encouraging people to sign up for his campaign.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai is an assistant news editor, the Bangkok Post.

Meena, seemingly, was no ordinary figure. A motorcycle taxi driver speaking the northeastern dialect, he'd also travelled extensively abroad, having been exposed to creative projects encouraging people to develop their true potential from the Netherlands to Japan.

Some immediately signed the petition, agreeing with Meena's view that citizens of the Big Mango deserve more than just three learning centres -- the TCDC, Museum Siam and TK Park -- amid the sea of commercial high rises.

And from social media to my own social circle, questions persisted. Who was that unusual motorcycle taxi driver? Was he the real McCoy?

To the disappointment of many, the petition ended up being a marketing campaign with the mysterious hero meticulously dreamt up by an ad agency. The whole thing was commissioned by the Office of Knowledge Management and Development (OKMD). Needless to say, OKMD will secure a new project if the petition proves successful. The producer said the clip wasn't meant to trick audiences, claiming it was clear the video is fictitious.

Many, including some of my friends, have since expressed a desire to withdraw their signature from the petition, which has already attracted 170,000 signatures. For them, it appears to be an issue of transparency, and not the goal of the campaign itself, that have soured their view on the project.

One of the main don'ts of Change.org is: "Don't impersonate others -- Change.org is designed to share the stories of real people, supporting real issues".

But the ad agency, whether they didn't read the rules or merely disregarded them, deliberately decided to use Meena, the perfect character, to launch the campaign.

The call for the knowledge centre reflects a real need, but was it right for the OKMD to trick people into backing it?

The OKMD already owes society an explanation on why it allowed organisations launched under its umbrella -- TCDC, Museum Siam and TK Park -- to independently manage themselves five years ago? Is it because the OKMD has been the target of budget cuts by the central government? A news report earlier this week said the body has been ordered to slash its budget by 20%. And if the OKMD really wants to stay active, wouldn't it be better if it opened libraries and museums upcountry, rather than cooking up a new project in Bangkok?

A fortnight on, we have heard explanations from the online petition platform and ad agency on the saga of Meena, but not a single word from the OKMD -- the mastermind of the project.

Begging the question: Will we soon see a petition to build a nuclear power plant in Thailand concocted by some electric power firm seeking to illuminate our country in a more literal way?

Change.org admitted it's possible that such a campaign could take place.

Being an open platform, any campaign is conceivable as long as it strictly follows the do's and avoid the don'ts. In the absence of impersonators and hate speech, the possibilities are endless.

As it stands, anyone wishing to see change in the country can use the platform to galvanise the masses behind their cause.

But, in the case of atomic energy, for example, it's also possible for anti-nuclear groups to launch a counter-petition. It will be interesting if we one day find ourselves being mobilised against each other on opposing sides of online campaigns.

As a Bangkok resident, do I need another learning centre in the city? Yes. Might I also sign a Change.org petition launched by "Friends of Meena"? to that effect, even if he doesn't actually exist? I guess you already know the answer to that question.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai

Columnist

Sirinya Wattanasukchai is a columnist for the Bangkok Post.

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