Although Winyu draws inspiration from Stewart and other late-night American hosts including Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon, the spur to merge politics and humor first came from his academic parents. While Winyu’s mother, an Illinois-born arts teacher, would become incensed during the family’s weekend political discussions, their father, a Thai political science professor, would preach calm. “So we tried to do the same and not get angry but treat it as a joke,” says Winyu.
He also learned to challenge the status quo from outspoken Thai social commentators like the eminent pacifist professor of political science Chaiwat Satha-Anand. Chaiwat, in turn, praises how Winyu uniquely “infuses a wonderful sense of humor — some very deadpan, some rather dark — to stimulate Thai political discourse in this difficult time.”
Winyu and his staff explain sensitive political topics — like the billions of dollars squandered in an ill-conceived rice-pricing scheme — through tart infographics that spell out what they see as the flaws in government and opposition policies. By going after all of Thailand’s political factions equally, Winyu demonstrates that blind dogma is his real quarry. “We are like a piece of candy which is covered in sugar, but inside are the vitamins,” he says.
Winyu has inspired scores of other young Thais to take to YouTube with their own homespun satirical news shows, a hopeful indication of political engagement in a nation where critical evaluation is largely missing from mainstream education. “Shallow News is a massive influence,” says Jukapong Elmsaard, 26, a Thai pop-culture blogger and aspiring novelist. “I learned that by making my work funny, people find knowledge easier to absorb.”
While the junta remains in power and political dysfunction continues, Winyu and the young satirists he has emboldened are unlikely to run out of critiques to share with their audiences. Or, for that matter, jokes.