To Punish Thai Police, a Hello Kitty Armband

How do you discourage police from tardiness, littering, and other minor infractions? To Punish Thai Police, a Hello Kitty Armband, N.Y. Times, Aug. 7, 2007.

"Simple warnings no longer work," said Pongpat Chayaphan, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, who instituted the new humiliation this week.

"This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," he said. “Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps."

If I were posting this over on Bent Law, Peter Nicolas's new blog about gay rights and the law, I might riff on why the color pink and cute kittens should be so profoundly shaming to men (the article doesn't mention any women on the Thai police force). Here, I'll just breathe a sigh of relief that this campaign is just part of cleaning up the force:

Pink armbands for misdemeanors are a start. Stronger measures could be next for corruption and extrajudicial killings.

Extrajudicial killings: now those would take something a little stronger than a white kitten with wideset eyes.

Wonder if this will be added to Hello Kitty's profile?

Thanks: Michele Storms.