Why Malaysians love Thailand

September 22, 2024: One nice touch was seen in the middle of Bangkok some three weeks ago. On Malaysia’s national day, the Central World shopping mall used lights and advertising technology to display the neighbouring country’s flag on its top, exterior side.

One Malaysian tourist took a picture of the giant Malaysian “flag” wrapping the street side of the Central World on August 31st and posted it on the social media. The rest is history.

“Imagine you live in Singapore and fly a Malaysian flag,” said one of thousands of comments on a social media thread. Another one doubted anything like that was possible even in Malaysia itself. Thailand is a Buddhist country, and Malaysia is predominantly Islamic, so for a country to so outstandingly fly the flag of a nation with a different religion is a big deal.

“Someone recently said ‘Welcome to Malaysia in mainland Chinese and all hell broke loose,” another comment said. Another one still said a Malaysian department store would endure an unfathomable backlash if it displayed a Thai flag in such a gigantic manner.

The cascading comments also have provided a key answer to what Malaysian authorities and journalists wonder about: How come Malaysians love to visit Thailand, with the trend becoming a virtual frenzy this year? The seas are basically the same, and so are the beaches, islands, mountains and buildings. Even people look quite similar. Why?

Such a question is partly answered by the Central World “flag” and partly by numerous comments of Malaysian tourists, who like the fact that they could live like a king while spending relatively little in Thailand, the laid-back attitude of the hosts that infects every guest, and the whole-hearted friendliness of Thais anywhere in the country no matter what religion you adhere to as long as you are reasonably respectful.

There were some comments eluding to Central World’s commercial motives, but they were countered by those challenging anyone from any country to regard other countries or their citizens from different cultures or religions with open and similar respect.

Daily updates of local and global events by Tulsathit Taptim