Smiley Masks for Thai Highway Patrol

Thailand, nicknamed "The Land of Smiles" by countless tourist books, are living up to its name: the highway policemen in Thailand will be wearing smiley masks to "lift the mood of motorists":

The new cloth masks, which hook behind the ears and cover the mouth and nose, will help "reduce the stress from drivers when they see the police," said Somyos, the Highway Police commander.

To that end, he said, some 200 police booths would also distribute holy water, chewing gum and mints.

He defended his force when asked why drivers needed smiley masks and gum and holy water to calm down when approached by a patrolman.

"The police are not that scary," he said. "When I was in the United States, their highway police seemed to be more fierce than Thai police. I was scared of them."

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Photo: Sarot Meksophawannakul/Bangkok Post


People wear face masks walking around BKK because the pollution is so bad. The police do also. The Thai police are also incredibly corrupt so I guess I just saw this in a different way than everyone else. Don't get me wrong though, I think it's cute, and I love BKK.
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And we take another step towards Terry Gilliam's dystopian masterpiece Brazil...

The most evil of the evil government workers in that movie wear terrifying baby masks, and it's very easy to assume the logic here would also be used to justify that decision in the world of the film.
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