Thailand and China go toe-to-toe in an online war with wonderfully creative memes

A Twitter war between two countries isn’t very common, and even less so in Asia where open confrontation is often downplayed. But when people have the chance to be anonymous, the insults can fly — no matter where they are. That was the case recently when Mainland China and Thailand went after each other in a war of foul language, funny creative memes, and even self-deprecating humor.

What prompted the battle is a bit convoluted without being familiar with the people involved, but here’s my best shot at a simple explainer (thanks to Taiwan News):

Background

The First Offense

The Second Offense

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The Third Offense

The Outcome

Mainland China’s internet users can be intimidating for any person or company that runs afoul of conventional thinking in China. Naturally the argument centered around politics, with Mainland people blasting Thailand and the Thais firing right back.

Over time, the Thais ended up turning to self-deprecating humor to make their point. Thailand is known as the “land of smiles”, so it doesn’t usually take itself too seriously. There has even been a study on the positive and playful nature of Thais, which I recommend checking out if you’re interested in Thailand.

Anyway, the flame war has resulted in some pretty creative memes, of which I’ve posted a few below. This should be apparent, but I’ll repeat it anyway: I do not endorse or stand by the messages or sentiment in any of the Tweets listed below. I do enjoy a good meme war though!

A couple of definitions so you don’t get lost:

Aside from the embeds below, you can also do a simple search with the hashtag #nnevvy to find a trove of material. Enjoy!

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