BEIJING (SCMP): A politician in Thailand has ignited public outrage after she posted a photo of herself enjoying fancy food at a cafe with factory workers in shot behind a floor-to-ceiling window.
Many people on social media have likened the scene to a “human zoo”.
Chiang Mai-based Thai Sang Thai Party member and an executive director at Thonburi Healthcare Group, Suwadee Puntpanich, posted the controversial photo on her social media account with 110,000 followers on April 23.
The photo was taken at a famous cafe called Yen.CNX. as Suwadee appears to be having a good time with fancy-looking drinks and desserts on her table.
In the background, several modestly dressed tobacco factory workers are sorting leaves behind a large glass panel.
Suwadee wrote in the post: “The cafe has divided a section of a tobacco leaf sorting factory into a coffee shop. You can see their way of life.”
The politician has posted about her glamorous lifestyle before, showing off images of herself shopping for luxury items, playing golf and travelling around the world.
However, the factory worker post attracted 53,000 reactions and 11,000 comments, many of them critical of her indifference to the suffering of poor people.
Some likened the set-up at the cafe to a “human zoo”.
“A glass window divides the class, with the rich sitting in air-conditioned rooms sipping coffee, while the poor work hard for the entertainment of the rich,” said another online observer.
Suwadee rejected the criticisms, and said in the post’s comment section that the “human zoo” comment showed “shallow thinking and devalued the honour of the people working at the factory”.
She added that her grandmother used to do tobacco leaf sorting work, and the setting evoked nostalgic memories of running around in the tobacco factory as a child.
On their social media account, the Yen.CNX cafe said that the factory had been operated by the cafe owner’s family for generations.
They intentionally transformed part of the factory space into a cafe and designed the glass window, so that it can be a place for “learning, conveying stories of valuable historical occupations and always respecting the dignity of all workers.”
The cafe also said that the workers received “fair compensation” and had not been hired to just put on a show.
However, online observers were not convinced by the company’s response.
“You were hurting the workers’ human rights, letting people watch them, take photos and post them online without their consent,” one person said.
“It is even more cruel that they were not performers, but real workers who sacrificed not only their comfort but also dignity to earn a living,” said another.
“The workers should not be reduced to just a backdrop. The cafe owner should create a space where dialogue can happen between visitors and the workers who are willing to do so,” suggested another.
Thailand has a very significant rich-poor gap, with an income Gini coefficient of 43.3 per cent in 2021, according to the World Bank Group.
Often, Thai factory workers earn the country’s minimum wage, which is around 350 baht (US$10) a day. - South China Morning Post
