Even though I am a someone who has little, if any, interest in fashion trends, I have to be more careful now when choosing my attire. To be more exact, the colour of my attire.
No, it's not because I am looking forward to a major fashion event. Nor is it about a new look. In fact, it's nothing to do with my wardrobe.
My reaction has come about after red-shirt members announced their decision to shift from red to white in their latest political campaign.
In the weekend before the PDRC's Bangkok shutdown movement, red shirts staged campaigns using white candles. Since then they have asked their members to wear white T-shirts. It remains unclear if the new colour will be a permanent choice, but it has caused a stir, especially over social media.
Many people believe the choice of white is an attempt by hard-core reds to "rebrand" the group, to entice the middle classes. Since white is synonymous with peace, wearers of the colour will give the impression they are peace-loving.
The red shirts have also embraced the "Respect my vote" campaign _ something that baffles me _ in their bid to press for the Feb 2 poll.
In the West, the "Respect my vote" campaign is used primarily by a minority who want to remind the winning party not to bypass them. So, it should be the non-red, non-Pheu Thai groups who have the right to say "respect my vote" when it is the government which went ahead with such contentious populist policies such as the rice-pledging scheme; or tried to force through the blanket amnesty bill that eventually led to the dissolution of the House.
This fad for colours in politics which began about a decade ago when the yellow-clad People's Alliance for Democracy campaigned against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, followed by Thaksin supporters choosing red, makes our politics unique.
In fact, the deepest political divide we have experienced in nearly a decade may have turned our country into a colour-sensitive society.
This is because your choice of colour or colours (since we have another group called salim, which refers to a dessert of various colours, and is a term for people who are not red, nor yellow) may _ without saying as much _ shows people who you are, and what you think.
Sometimes the colour you wear makes people mistake who you are and what you stand for. That can move them to like _ or dislike _ you at first glance.
And you must be aware that wearing the wrong colour shirt to a political event could result in trouble.
A woman who turned up at the white-shirt "Respect my vote" campaign at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre without realising it was actually a red-shirt event encountered this difficulty.
A clip on YouTube showed she was harassed and eventually reduced to tears by a horde of white shirts in disguise who were angry with her "End the Thaksin regime at the election" message. She had to be helped out by police.
We have no idea if the colour switch is permanent. Hosts of red-shirt TV news programmes have appeared in white. Yet everyone has the right to be concerned about the reds disguising themselves as white shirts. Most people asked the reds to spare this colour for people who want to maintain non-partisanship or an alternative voice.
Also complaining are some religious people who are required to wear white when in meditation. The new meaning which white has taken on could cause problems for them.
In a society imbued with a strong "us versus them" sentiment, people don't hesitate to judge, include, or exclude others, by their choice of colour. That is sad but true. My friend posted on his Facebook page recently that he was approached by someone who disagreed with his ideas and asked, "Are you red?"
No, he didn't wear red that day. Nor was he associated with the reds.
You may already know this, but it's very difficult to be in the middle _ not to be either yellow or red as the two sides are locked in a conflict that has no end in sight.
Both colour groups always want us to take sides. If you don't, the chances are you will be chastised by them on one occasion or another. So, let's hope the reds stick to their colour. Or should I say true colours?
Ploenpote Atthakor is Deputy Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.