Thais Beg Taylor Swift to Make Up for 2014 Post-Coup Cancellation

Patpicha Tanakasempipat
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The front-runner to become Thailand’s next prime minister has declared himself a “Swiftie,” and asked Taylor Swift to bring her tour to the country almost a decade after the American superstar canceled a concert in the wake of a military coup.

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Swift’s scrapped Bangkok show in 2014 — shortly after a junta seized power — remains a sour subject among her Thai fans, many of whom live in the Thai capital where Pita Limjaroenrat’s Move Forward Party won nearly all House of Representatives seats in the May 14 national election.

“Thailand is back on track to be fully democratic after you had to cancel last time due to the coup,” the 42-year-old Harvard graduate said. “The Thai people have spoken via the election and we all look forward to welcoming you to this beautiful nation of ours!”

But Pita’s bid to become premier faces the major obstacle of garnering enough support among Senators — all of whom were appointed by a military-led government in 2019 and have the power to pick the next prime minister alongside the elected lower house until early 2024.

Pita’s message to Swift followed an appeal by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other politicians across the world who have urged the best-selling singer-songwriter to add concerts in their home countries to the Eras Tour, which is on pace to be the highest-grossing tour in music history.

Pivotal Week

It also came amid a pivotal week for all Thai “Swifties,” the nickname for Swift’s fans, as they raced to grab tickets to the Eras Tour, which currently includes Singapore as the only stop in Southeast Asia. Tickets to the six Singapore shows available in a United Overseas Bank Ltd. pre-sale on Wednesday were quickly snapped up, with high demand for the remaining seats in the general sale on Friday.

Over the past nine years, Swift’s canceled Red Tour show has often been jokingly cited especially among pro-democracy activists and supporters of Pita’s upstart party as one of the most notable failures of the military-backed administrations of current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, who led the coup in 2014.

Pita’s appeal to Swift was retweeted more than 136,000 times. If Swift ever accepts the invitation, Pita said he’d be interested in singing ‘Lavender Haze’ with her, as it’s his 7-year-old daughter’s favorite song.

Pita’s tweet was also seen as a move to sustain his momentum from the election, as next week a joint session of parliament will convene and vote on the next national leader. The meeting will include both the newly elected representatives and previously appointed senators.

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