‘A way to vent all this angst’: Thailand’s creatives turn to art to express discontent about politics

“It doesn’t matter who does it. It matters that what they’re doing is wrong. I try as hard as I can to focus on the action more than the person or the party that’s doing it,” he said. 

“Partly because I’m afraid to be prosecuted by the law, and it’s self-censorship in a way, but it’s in a way that makes you find more ways to express your ideas.”

Another artist, who only wanted to be known as “Diamond”, also illustrates Thai politics with few words.

“I don’t really put captions or descriptions in my work, because I want people to reflect on the artwork and let it speak back to the audience. And sometimes with different perspectives, different cultures, it could translate in a different kind of way,” said the 29-year-old.

“In my starting years, it was a bit intense in terms of politics in Thailand. So when I did some of my artwork, I had to show them to my lawyer friends, to let them see if this is okay in terms of the law, (will it get me into trouble)?”