[Intl-tobacco] Part III: Rally at "Artist Interaction" in Ayutthaya

[robert weissman]

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Thai/U.S. Youth Crash Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards Events
August 2-3, 2004 Thailand
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Part III
1) Event #3: Rally at "Artist Interaction" in Ayutthaya
2) Epilogue
3) Acknowledgements

####

1/ EVENT #3: RALLY AT "ARTIST INTERACTION" IN AYUTTHAYA

Early in the morning of August 3rd, the youth hopped on a bus and headed
towards the historic city of Ayutthaya, an hour away from Bangkok.
According to reliable sources, Philip Morris would be hosting an
=93Artists Interaction=94 within the city=92s historic ruins. We planned to
have a presence at the event by rallying outside of it. On our way to
Ayutthaya, however, we were informed that the artists would in fact be
processing by elephant to the event! As luck would have it, our bus
arrived at the elephant mounting location just behind the buses
transporting the artists, Philip Morris employees, and journalists. An
ASEAN Art Awards billboard, a troupe of Thai dancers, and a row of
elephants were there to greet us.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw045.jpg

The elephants=92 sported large ASEAN Art award logos on their foreheads
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi104.JPG

The people on the Philip Morris buses disembarked, and so did we! The
Philip Morris organizers didn=92t seem to want to stick around. The
procession left almost immediately, led by ten elephants.

Apart from the tobacco control advocates who tagged along, the
procession was made up of roughly 1/3 artists, 1/3 journalists, and 1/3
Philip Morris employees from throughout South East Asia. Conveniently,
they were all wearing ASEAN Art Award badges that clearly identified the
country they were from and whether they were an =93Artist=94, =93Journalist=
=94,
or =93Philip Morris=94 employee.

The youth donned their grim reaper costumes, unfurled their banners,
grabbed their signs, and rushed to join the procession
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi094.JPG
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi095.JPG
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi096.JPG

A U.S. youth poses with a =93Hey PM, Asia=92s not for sale=94 sign near som=
e
elephants
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw046.jpg

The youth pulled up alongside the procession...
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi097.JPG

...past the elephants...
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi098.JPG

...past the dancers at the very front...
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi099.JPG

...until they themselves were leading the procession!
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi100.JPG
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi101.JPG

Meanwhile, a representative of the Virginia-based tobacco company
=93Licensed to Kill=94 was seen enthusiastically greeting Philip Morris
executives from throughout region, praising them for excellence in the
=93art of selling death,=94 and inquiring whether Licensed to Kill might be
able to co-sponsor the ASEAN Art Awards next time around.
http://www.licensedtokill.biz/photos/asean2004/02.jpg

The Licensed to Kill representative also handed out an event-related
press release to the journalists covering the event
http://www.licensedtokill.biz/media/pr040803.html

Eventually, we reached the final destination for the elephants, where
one of the grim reapers posed next to the =93Artist Interaction=94 welcome
sign. The theme this year? "Ancient roots; modern bridges."
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw048.jpg

The youth spread out near an entrance to a pavilion that Philip Morris
organizers instructed us we could not pass without a badge
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi106.JPG

But there was a huge expanse and not enough Philip Morris employees to
block us from coming through. Dr. Hatai announced defiantly to the
visibly frustrated coordinator of public relations for Philip Morris
(Thailand) that the top public health official of Ayutthaya was with us
and the company could not stop us from proceeding further.

The artists were greeted at the entrance to the Historic ruins by two
rows of Thai drummers
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw050.jpg

When the youth tried to follow behind, Philip Morris event organizers
rushed to lock the entrance gate!
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw049.jpg

But they couldn=92t stop us from entering through a different gate,
particularly since the area they were trying to prevent us from entering
is open to the public!
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi114.JPG

At this point, Dr. Hatai held an impromptu press conference for the Thai
television crews covering the story
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw055.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw057.jpg

The youth rally then proceeded through the historic ruins=85
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi115.JPG
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi117.JPG

=85and to the closed entrance to the =93Artist Interaction=94
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi120.JPG

The artists were sitting under a large canopy, listening to various
speeches. The governor of Ayutthaya, who had been invited to attend, was
not present =96 presumably in response to a letter sent to him by the Thai
Health Promotion Institute which strongly discouraging him from attending.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw058.jpg

The youth assembled along the low wall and held their signs up high in
the air, so everyone on the other side could see.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw060.jpg
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi121.JPG

They held the signs throughout the entire =93Artist Interaction=94
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi123.JPG

It was a hot and sticky day. The Philip Morris organizers - perhaps
realizing that they couldn=92t get rid of us and wanting to further
emphasize the company=92s generosity for the journalists present =96 brough=
t
cases of cold water over to the rally participants. At the same time,
they tried to give us misinformation about how long the event would be
taking place.
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/aw061.jpg

Dr. Hatai stands with the grim reaper and =93Pack of Lies=94
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/thpi130.JPG

View all photos of the rally in Ayutthaya:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/3/

#####

2/ EPILOGUE

On August 4th, the ASEAN Art Awards ceremony was held at the Shangri La
Hotel in Bangkok. Here is a Bangkok Post article about ceremony
(features photo of the Grand Prize winner):
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/asean04/grand.jpg

The Nation also did a story on one of the Jurors Prize winners from
Vietnam. His painting, which features mass death, a grim reaper, and a
man holding lots of cash, makes a statement against drugs -- somewhat
ironic, given the main sponsor of the awards! Check out the story and a
photo of the painting:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/asean04/jurors.jpg

A scene from the ASEAN Art Awards exhibit in the National Art Gallery
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/asean04/4/aw063.jpg

An article on the =93Artist Interaction=94 in the Straits Times Interactive
(Malaysia) reported on the rally in Ayutthaya:

    =93The persistent protesters quietly bore anti-tobacco signs and
    handed out flyers. Reacting, Mr Andrew White, vice-president of
    corporate affairs of Philip Morris Asia, says: 'We are a tobacco
    company and will always be criticised in whatever we do. We accept
    that=85.
    Mr White puts the cost of organising this year's awards at 'between
    $400,000 and $600,000'. The company sponsors the awards because 'it
    is one way for us to give something back to our community'.=94

What Philip Morris executives said privately about the youth rally is
what we'd really like to know!

####

3/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The events around the ASEAN Art Awards represented a true cross-border
collaboration. A special thanks to Thai Health Promotion Institute for
making the events possible and to all the Thai youth who came out for
them. Special thanks are also due to the following individuals who
contributed time and energy to the events:

THAILAND: Hatai Chitanondh, Lakkhana Termsirikunchai, Naowarut
Charoenca, Nithat Sirichotiratana, Rohman Taowato, Steve Hamann,
Pronvimol Kularach, Sukulya Suchan, Jaruek Chairak, Thitinob Gomolnimi,
Juthimarch Suksai, and many others!

U.S.: Andrew Dahlgren, Chris Blitz, Kara Johnson, Ken Dahlgren, Kristina
Dahlgren, Travis Muntz, Nicole Sutton

SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS: Thai Health Promotion Institute, Essential
Action (US), Reality Check (US)


*** IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING USE OF PHOTOS ***

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you would like to use one or more of the photos, please email the urls
to Essential Action <tobacco@essential.org> so that we can confirm which
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Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: tobacco@essential.org
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco