This week, Thailand's tourism industry received a special promotion from one of the world's largest low-budget airlines, in a way that never would have been expected.
The "Get off in Thailand. Fly direct from Brisbane to Bangkok" ad promoting a direct flight between the Australian city to the Thai capital has become the talk of the town. For many, it's a joke made in poor taste, while others see it as an inconvenient truth.
The online uproar prompted the low-budget carrier to apologise and withdraw the controversial piece as criticism continues.
But the "get off" ad is not the only one; there is another billboard ad which reads, "Cheap enough to say, Phuket I'll go". It's simply an inconvenient truth thrown right in our faces!
It's a pity we hardly hear from those in the government about what they think of the promotion of our sex tourism industry. Perhaps Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and relevant cabinet ministers like Vira Rojpojchanarat and Weerasak Kowsurat concentrated on election activities so much that this ad pandemonium slipped from their attention.
Needless to say, the ad shows who the carrier is and how they see their customers. It's also a mirror of Thailand's notorious image and how the world views and thinks about us.
Netizens who speak out against the advertisement have used the same old argument that Thailand is a Buddhist country which, to me, is just the same old hypocrisy.
People often love to convince themselves and others that we are staunch Buddhists, that Thailand is a Buddhist country and that we strictly follow Buddhist teachings. But if you stay long enough in Thailand, you will see how the basic five precepts can be conveniently breached in daily life. You don't have to go far. Just glancing at the newspaper headlines which are full of murder, robbery, rape and adultery is enough.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand also shows a static picture of the country to the world -- as if we are still living in traditional Thai houses and getting around by boats and elephants.
In fact, our lifestyle has embraced enormous changes and moved away from that image.
We can't run away from the fact that sex workers, who contribute so much to the tourism industry, are not entitled to healthcare coverage under the Social Security Fund.
For those who find the advertisement offensive, do we really think tourists are going to Pattaya or Phuket to watch traditional Thai dance or visit temples? And isn't it time we started thinking about changing the spelling to Puket? Do we really think women in revealing outfits who sit in front of the bars in Patpong would move inside and change to traditional costumes to perform Thai dances with poles?
The Air Asia ad controversy reminds me of the infamous incident in mid-1993 when the whole country became outraged over the description of our capital in the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture as a city famous for its temples and often mentioned as a place where there were a lot of prostitutes.
Public anger forced the dictionary's writers to alter the description.
In old media reports, it was also mentioned that prostitution was illegal in Thailand, but the number of prostitutes was estimated at more than one million -- many of them children.
Twenty-six years later, our image hasn't changed much. I'm also sure the description would not have been changed if complaints had not been made.
Back to the present, a day after the Air Asia ad hit the news, I came across a similar news piece concerning Amsterdam where city administrators were seeking to ban the city's most popular tour -- of the red-light district from 2020.
Of course, Amsterdam is famous for more than its newly renovated Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank's house. The city's red-light district is also a major attraction, and it is concerned about the feelings of its sex workers and wants to prevent them from embarrassment.
CNN Travel quoted the deputy mayor of Amsterdam as saying the administration did not consider it "appropriate for tourists to leer at sex workers".
In Thailand, I don't think there will be any changes. One thing that is certain, however, is that we might get angry once in awhile.
Sirinya Wattanasukchai is a columnist, Bangkok Post.