Communism or Freedom poster (Thai, Bangkok)
A Thai two-panel poster. On the left, under 'Communist', uniformed cadres question a thin farmer while a boy wearing a red-star neckerchief points him out, and a truck bears a hammer-and-sickle and Chinese characters. On the right, under 'Freedom', a family eats together beneath a portrait of the king and a Buddha shelf. The captions say communist rule makes children spy on parents, and that a happy family is the nation's foundation. The tell is fear-appeal built on a side-by-side contrast of the two systems.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- June 14, 1965
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Johnson Administration
- Leader
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Security and surveillance, Empire and colonialism
- Event
- Cold War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Posters in Asia, Latin America, Middle East, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, June 14, 1965. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6949265, 306-PPB-340).
Text on the object
คอมมิวนิสต์ หรือ เสรีภาพ รัฐบาลคอมมิวนิสต์อบรมเด็กๆให้เป็นสายลับ คอยจับผิดพ่อแม่เพื่อป้องกันมิให้พ่อแม่ของตนซุกซ่อนพืชผลที่ต้องส่งมอบให้รัฐเป็นส่วนกลาง ครอบครัวที่ผาสุกและมั่งคั่ง คือ รากฐานแห่งความเป็นปึกแผ่นของชาติ [on truck: 增産] [signature: Poget (uncertain)] 5-691 (24)
Communist or Freedom The communist government trains children to be spies, watching to catch their parents out, so that their parents cannot hide crops that must be handed over to the state as the center. A happy and prosperous family is the foundation of the nation's solidity. [on truck: increase production]
Imprint code at lower right and artist signature are small and uncertain.
