From benefactor to tourist santa on cards from thailand

This article extends the study of postcards, heretofore limited to the critical examination of photo postcards representing people and sites at destinations, to Christmas cards from Thailand, depicting the legendary figure of Santa Claus. While such cards appear to be unrelated to tourism, in this study an unexpected link is found: Santa's figure becomes subtly transformed on the cards, turning him from a wintry benefactor of children to a tourist in the tropical South. The figure thus becomes amenable to exploitation for the promotion of tourism, as it implicitly encourages Northerners to spend their (Christmas) vacations in balmy Thailand, instead of the cold North.