BANGKOK: Bemused shoppers snapped selfies and sipped matcha lattes in front of a replica of Mount Rushmore at a Thai mall where, instead of dead US presidents, the faces of four current world leaders have been carved out as a commercial stunt.

The stony likenesses of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump looked down over stalls of camping equipment and a climbing wall as part of a pop-up display in one of the Thai capital`s biggest malls.

Bangkok`s Seacon Square is known for its unconventional exhibits, this year showcasing a `Great Wall of China` and a `Noah`s Ark` with real animals, but this is perhaps its first overtly political display. `It`s like a powerful statement, all of them together, James Kumar, a 32-year-old mall-goerfrom Australia, said on Thursday.

According to a statement from the mall, the concept `wasn`t meant to deliver any single message but to invite conversation`. American Andrew Davis, described by his partner as a Trump supporter, said the marketing ploy was funny.

`I think Trump would really like this, because in the past he`s made jokes about adding himself to the real Mount Rushmore,` Davis said. However, he said it would be `a huge political drama` if it were displayed in the United States.

`That`s how divided the country is right now.

Trump has denied suggesting he should be carved alongside the faces of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.-AFP