PeterRS Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago 15 years is a long time and memories fade. But it was in 2011 that Thailand was caught out in a mini scandal during Sonkran that had local tongues wagging for quite some time. That year, three young girls aged 13, 14 and 15 got overly into the Songkran spirit. On one of the days they climbed on to the top of a minivan at the top of Silom, took off their tops and danced much to the delight of many in the crowd. Unfortunately someone posted a video on youtube. The Bang Rak district director filed a complaint with the police and urged that obscenity charges be filed against the girls. He claimed the topless female revellers had hurt the image of Thailand and distorted Songkran culture. Even the Culture Minister joined in the condemnation, urging strong action against both the girls themselves and the Songkran organisers. The Minister seriously suggested the punishment should include the girls being required to read books about the Songkran Festival to young students so they could learn how serious this celebration is. Some queried why the Ministry of Culture should be the guardian of the nation's morals. Surely it's remit should be the finer things in life, about the arts and the preservation and development of traditional culture? But that’s not what the Minster thought at the time. The girls were then fined 500 baht each for "disturbing the peace" [peace over Sonkran???] and had to make grovelling public apologies about their lewd behaviour. But then someone noticed that the Ministry was being totally hypocritical. In the Bangkok Post, a photo appeared of the Ministry's own webpage. This showed - surprise, surprise - three Thai maidens each naked to the waist. Within minutes of that article appearing, the image had been taken down and replaced with a more sober image of Thai culture - but not before some wise guy had made a copy of the relevant web page. The Minister never explained how that image might have "hurt" the image of Thailand!! The Bangkok Post then continued with an article by a political analyst who happened to work in the Prime Minister's Department. It was ostensibly about an exhibition at the Koi Art Gallery in Bangkok. Titled Colour of Day / Colour of Night, this showed the work of two painters who “portray their totally opposite perception and interpretation of Thai society and the way of life of the subjects.” Part of it stated - It is not just corruption in the sense that officials take bribes and allow wrongdoing to take place. The acceptance that nothing can be done about the sex trade in Thailand, that this is part of a "normal" way of life, corrupts the minds of the people and bleaches into the ethical fabric of a society . . . The police and government authorities, by clamping down on the girls, and the enthusiasts who posted the video clips on the internet demonstrate the Thai hypocrisy and denial. By trying to quickly close the case and getting the news off the front page, the authorities are not addressing the real problem at all. If corruption is a root cause, hypocrisy and denial are what make matters worse. If one cannot look the truth in the eye and carry on pretending that darkness does not exist, then no problem will be resolved, and our sons and daughters will only sink further into condemnation . . . Sadly that Bangkok Post article is lost in the mists of time. But I posted about the entire episode in this forum on April 22 2011. cfnmhertsuk 1 Quote
