Viral Video Uses Pooches to Explain Dog-Eat-Dog Thai Elections

Photo: Nual the Dog / Facebook

BANGKOK — An amusing and educational animation explaining how the March 24 Thai elections will work – through dog cartoons – was going viral Saturday.

Facebook page Nual the Dog posted an eight-minute animated video Friday night of dogs voting and running for parties, which today had been liked more than 13,000 times and shared more than 14,000.

“The Poodle Party looked as if it was going to win. If they get seats through the party-list system, then it’s ggez for them,” the white dog Nual says, using gaming slang for an easy win to explain why the junta changed the voting system for this election to disadvantage the Pheu Thai paty.

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Not only is Thailand’s recent election history explained through dogs, there’s also a simple and easy explanation of gerrymandering and the party-list electoral system – which Thailand used before – and the mixed-member apportionment system, which will be used in March.

Voters will get one vote to choose both their representative and party. MP seats will then be proportionally allocated by party – giving more power to smaller parties. The video explains that because the 250 junta-appointed senators will be allowed to vote for the prime minister and automatically choose incumbent Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, he will only need 25 percent of the vote in the elected lower house – the House of Representatives – to win.

The Pheu Thai party is represented by a pink poodle, with one part of the video even showing an uncanny likeness between it and the party’s prime minister candidate Sudarat Keyuraphan. The Democrat Party are suited Corgis. The ruling junta – called the “municipal gang” in the video – are represented as dogcatchers. Firebrand politico Suthep Thaugsuban’s party is briefly represented as a bulldog with a whistle around its neck, in reference to him leading street protests which paved the way for the 2014 coup.

“You can feel hopeless with the system, and that’s your right. But if you don’t exercise your voting rights, when there’s something fucked up or stupid corruption happening later, know that your apathy contributed to that crappiness,” Nual said.

“You gotta choose the MPs you want to represent you. The money they’re using is your money,” Nual said. “If you’re one of the dogs that want change, please go vote. A dog is begging you.”

Nual added that the clip had not been sponsored by any political party.

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