2022 Report of the Ratsadonprasong Fund Part 3: Top Numbers

Graphic design by zerotwostudio

Today’s convenience in keying in specific numbers to make money transfers, without the need to fumble with coins or write out the amount in words, has become an affordance for mass political expression through symbolically charged numbers. Of the 9,724 cashless transactions from 2022 (which encompass Internet/Mobile Banking, payments via QR Code, and ATM transfers), we found the number “112,” which corresponds to the section for the lese majeste law in the Thai Criminal Code, taking a variety of forms in over 1,987 transactions. Over 1 in 5, in fact.

The other popular number we found is “2475,” which corresponds to the Buddhist year of the end of absolute monarchy in Siam. It appears 195 times, or about 1 in 10 of the “112” donations.

And the breathtaking number “1124.75”: it looks as if 112 reversed and crashed into 2475!

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