History In The Flesh

[Flashermac]

By Sirinya Wattanasukchai and Chindawan Singkongsin

 

 

Nudie calendars as art, artifact and taboo

 

 

The end of every year brings many things to look forward to: parties, bonuses, gifts, New Year’s resolutions. Few of late December’s trappings last long beyond New Year’s Eve – but the new nudie calendars endure.

 

For decades now, local men have looked forward to meeting the year’s fresh crop of pretty young women.

 

Though they are enjoyed by some, nudie calendars have also been considered taboo. Whisky producers love them – the calendars boost sales. Collectors laud them, saying they signify the essence of time. Many people hate their low artistic standards, a characterization naturally seen as unfair by nude photographers.

 

“It’s in the eye of beholder,†says nude photographer Anyamanee Sichad. Standards of quality vary from calendar to calendar, she says. But she says the most important consideration is that each calendar be made “in accordance with the law.†That is, the pictures can’t show genitalia.

 

So “nudie†calendars here maintain some sense of modesty.

 

In 1959, the first titillating Thai calendar was produced by a local whisky manufacturer as a New Year’s gift to its customers. The photographs showed nothing more than ladies in their short-sleeved shirt and shorts posing against an outdoor landscape. The most exciting part of the outfits was the tied-up hem of a tiny shirt, revealing the abdomen.

 

But fashion moves quickly. Two years later, the models appeared in one-piece swimming suits, showing off their curves. That was also when Mehkong, the most popular local whisky (and maker of what would become the most popular calendar), introduced its gorgeous calendar models in come-hither poses.

 

It wasn’t until 1968, with westerners in Thailand during the Vietnam War, that the calendar girls were shown in two-piece outfits. The sexiest model of the 60s, Khommapat Atthaya, appeared in a two-piece in 1971.

 

Things got more extreme in 1976, when actress Sirikwan Nantasiri shocked the public with her unexpected fashion statement on the Gai Daeng (Red Chicken) calendar. Unlike her other promotional stills, only her long hair covered her bare breasts. Since then, many stars have joined the nudie-calendar bandwagon, including Wasana Palakorn, Duangcheewan Komolsen and Rungrawan Sripatimakul.

 

But nothing provoked the public and the police like the calendar produced by Mehkong in 1990. It featured beauty queen-turned-actress Darin Kornsakul stark naked.

 

While the 1976 calendar had insulted the police, because it showed Sirikwan unbuttoning her khaki outfit (which was similar to the police uniform), Mehkong’s 1990 offering was something else.

 

The ensuing public controversy prompted police to confiscate the calendars. As long as they kept a low profile, says Anyamanee, the calendars were regulated but never banned.

 

As the best-selling local whisky, Mehkong always produces the highest number of calendars every year – usually 1.2 million. But in 1990 the rumor went around that even 1.4 million calendars would not be enough to satisfy demand. Mehkong printed an additional one million Darin calendars and sold them to retailers to give to customers.

 

“She had always had a reputation for her beautiful curves,†says photographer Anyamanee. But the calendar cemented Darin’s status, both building and destroyed her reputation.

 

Nudie calendar fame can be a fickle thing. Naowarat Suesat went big when she shaved her head and posed in 1979. Penpak Sirikul and Supannee Jittiang shot to fame after appearing nude in 1985. But actress Putsarat Dara couldn’t escape the criticism after her appearance in the Mehkong calendar that year, and soon faded from the celluloid world.

 

The Mehkong calendar tradition came to an end in 1996, when the company decided to rebrand itself. It began printing a culturally oriented calendar. But other brands have carried the nudie torch.

 

Blue Eagle created a new image for nude calendars by putting mixed-heritage model Champagne X and supermodels Methinee Kingpayom and Patumrat Woramalee in their calendars in 2000. Wichuda Pindum appeared on the Phaya-insee calendar in 2001. Noble Scotch spent 1.5 million baht to build its reputation with images of VJ Michelle Worgord in 2003, and nine million baht to get Miss Thailand World Sirinya Burbridge on the 2004 calendar.

 

After the success of Leo Beer’s 2005 “body paint†calendar, Club F founder Methinee Kingpayom set up another supermodel team that included Odett Henriet Jacomin, Aschara McCline and Parati Ampornrat for the 2006 calendar.

 

As the calendars become an annual routine and fashions grow ever more revealing, some have come to see them as more than 12 months of pretty girls.

 

Nitat Punthu, owner of 98 Museum, sees the nudie calendars as historical artifacts. They reflect the culture at different points in time, says the collector. “It has the date on it,†he points out.

 

Anyamanee, the photographer, says an increasingly accepting society has come to see the calendars as art.

 

However, sex columnist Niwat Kongpien says that no whisky producer has ever made a nudie calendar for art’s sake. “It’s clear that they have been made for marketing purposes. Men like watching sexy stuff regardless of the artistic quality. The more revealing, the more they enjoy it.â€

 

 

http://www.manager.co.th/IHT/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000001708

[cavanami]

...maybe we can have some of the hansum BMs pose for a Thai 360 calendar

[Flashermac]

Are you volunteering?

[checkbin]

Let us never forget the Nanapong calendar .....

[Flashermac]

Still got mine.