Salim (Thai slang)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In contemporary Thai politics, salim (Thai: สลิ่ม, pronounced [sā.lìm]) is a Thai slang referring to people who are skeptics of democracy and supports the military's involvement in politics.[1][2] Politicist Surachart Bamrungsuk saw salims as representatives of right wing middle class.[3] The term initially referred to the "multicoloured shirts" as a reference to the colourful Thai dessert sarim and was considered by some as a pejorative.[4] It later included other people outside the "multicoloured shirts" as well.[2][5] The term has been used on mainstream media by 2011.[6] In late February 2020, the term gained popularity following the Thai Constitutional Court's order to disband the pro-democracy Future Forward Party. Students, seeing the order as a political abuse, began to use hashtags including the term salim as their online activism against the ruling.[1]
Thailand in 2005–2010 saw two main political sides either supporting or opposing then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The two identified themselves by their shirt colours, nominally; the yellow shirts (anti-Thaksin) and the red shirts (pro-Thaksin). In 2010, a new political group Network of Citizen Volunteers Protecting the Land was formed[7] and identified as the "multicoloured shirts" to distinguish it from the aforementioned two.[8] Some netizens later called the group salim after Thai dessert sarim which is known for its colourfulness. The term is believed to be first used on Thai web-board Pantip.com.[9]