It is not as whimsical as it seems. After the onset of the largest pro-democracy movement since the military coup in 2014, university and high school students cuddled hamster dolls and ran around in circles. “Delicious tax!”, hundreds of them sang, from a cartoon jingle at Democracy Monument in late July 2020. Crowdsourced from a social media platform, Hamtaro, a shorthand for caged mice demanding freedom, spawned many internet memes, including a greedy caricature of junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Some of them are currently on view at the exhibition titled “Memes Of Dissent: Thai Social Media During The 2020-2021 Student Uprising” at Artcade in Phayao from Aug 3-Oct 1. Held by the University of Phayao’s School of Architecture and Fine Art and the Museum of Popular History, the archive explores the intersection of social media and political activism that…
