I was working in an elementary school in Thailand many years ago. The children were taught Thai pride on an almost scary level and this included teacher-sponsored hatred towards certain nationalities, especially the Burmese. It also focused on basically all their other neighbors as well but not so much Laos because those guys are basically Thai anyway. Indians were also pretty high up on the list of nationalities to hate / fear for some reason and the Indian girl that was in our class (both parents immigrated many years ago) was picked on relentlessly. In a non pervy way I want to say that she was looking like she was going to be very pretty when she got older and she was also one of the more clever kids in the class.
This spraying of disinfectant... I hope it has some purpose but I had already heard about this spraying of the Myanmar border and just kind of had a chuckle about it. People are complaining about the cost but isn't bleach like one of the least expensive substances on earth?
The national pride you refer to is still there. I teach in a school now and the way they line up like soldiers in the morning to pay homage to the flag and the Royals almost seems like brainwashing. I have also seen the classes where they really point out the fact that Burmese were terrible people for decapitating Buddha statues in Ayuthaya. This happened a VERY long time ago... It's time to let it go.
Thanks @gooddream for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 90
ENGAGEtokens.