Thailand Post Plc has received an enthusiastic response to its campaign to promote letter writing, which many consider an outmoded form of communication.
The public was invited to submit letters expressing their thoughts about the country as part of an event held by Thailand Post to coincide with 2010 International Letter Writing Week. Thailand Post accepted 4,135 letters at Chamchuri Square during the six-day event, which ended yesterday.
A panel of judges selected letters for prizes. Many of the letter writers shared their experiences with political violence and expressed their views on the subject, said Wiboon Sareechaiporn, the assistant vice-president of Thailand Post's marketing communications department.
Award-winning letter writer Nalinee Chantanasanon described her anxiety over the political situation.
"Thank you for your concern about my well-being last May," Ms Nalinee wrote. "My health was good but my mind was not. Who could be happy at such a time? The country was on fire and Thais were quarrelling with each other. I felt ashamed in the eyes of foreigners. But the shame was far worse when thinking of the sacrifices our ancestors made building our nation.
"Although the worst time has passed, I still fear that our country will never return to normal."
Sirasit Suchartlikitwong, a Mathayom 6 student who won an award in the secondary school category, also reflected on the political unrest.
"Dear Thailand, I wrote this letter to apologise and express my guilt for the shameful things we did to you. On behalf of one Thai person, what can I do to correct the wrongs we did to you?" he said.
Mr Wiboon said most of the writers were concerned about political unrest and wanted a return to normalcy. He said all letters would be kept in the National Archives.
He hoped his company's campaign would help increase the popularity of letter writing, which is being threatened by technological advancements such as email and mobile phones.
"Nowadays, only two out of 100 people still write letters as a means of communication," he said, referring to a study last year by Sripatum University's Research Centre.
"Even though letter writing is on the decline, it is worth preserving because the charm of hand-written letters cannot be replaced by technology," he said.
While personal correspondence had nearly bottomed out, the amount of letters, parcels and other items handled by Thailand Post had increased from 1.2 billion items in 2008, to 1.3 billion last year and to 650 million in the first half of this year.
Sureerat Wongsangiem, director of the National Archives, said the institute began in 2008 to collect and record artefacts and information on important incidents in Thailand for future study.
The letters from the Thailand Post campaign would help add an everyday perspective on the current political turbulence.
Ms Sureerat said she was also concerned that letter writing might go the way of the telegraph.
Thailand Post stopped providing telegraph services in April 2008 because of the lack of demand.
"It is impossible for letters to remain as popular as they were before given the advent of new technologies," she said.
Postcards might be around longer, said Bhirisa Bhoorijak, who participated in yesterday's event.
"Although postcards take longer to write and send than emails, they are classier and more charming," she said.
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