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Before my first trip to Thailand I was told about the culture and the two things you should NEVER do is offend (i) their king and (ii) Buddha.
it's not about whether or not VC intended to be offensive, or whether or not people wear those images for the sake of fashion. What matters is that it is HUGELY offensive to the Thai culture. If you're a foreigner holidaying then is it too much to be respectful to their culture & beliefs?
So yeah, I think it is offensive to buddhists (I myself am a Christian) and when you're in a country where almost the entire population treats all images of Buddha feverently and religiously, then wearing a bikini with an image of Buddha is, well, just being insensitive and rude to the host country.
I can't stop people from swearing or misusing the name of God, but I do find it quite offensive myself. And if someone deliberately walks into a church and swears and misue the name of Jesus, then well, he'll be practising his freedom of speech but it's also obvious that he's been deliberately offensive and insensitive.
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