kohchaiBKK Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 Thanks for supplying the article. A quick story related to the topic. I drove up with a friend last October to the Nong Khai area for the Naga festival. I was aware of how hard it would be to find a place to stay, but felt I would chance it anyway. Rooms are booked sometimes as much as a year in advance, but I figured I could sleep in the car if I absolutely had to. I had no luck finding a place, but popped into the large Mekong Royal to see if maybe the manager there might know where I could crash. As I was talking to her, her phone rang. Her jaw dropped, and she soon hung up and banged her head on the desk. When I asked her what was wrong, she said "A 2nd cousin of the royal family just called and booked 18 rooms. Now I have to call 18 people that reserved a year ago to tell them we have no room, and most of them are probably enroute already." I just smiled as I left. TIT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 cm_spot i was on one trips to Thailand and was very surprised one day when i walked into reception of the hotel. they had their daily list of films being provided on the hotel cable network and i saw 'Anna And The King' with Jodie Foster. i was intrigued,knowing the book and film had been banned for years. with a girl at the time and i decided to watch the film. English Language with Thai subtitles and i was really surprised to see it was the film i thought it was. maybe many things done wrong i do not know,but the girl loved it,she knew nothing about the subject matter and just loved hearing her language spoken and scenes of the Palace. i have my own story of the current King,but sadly cannot be told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 [color:"red"] was on one trips to Thailand and was very surprised one day when i walked into reception of the hotel. they had their daily list of films being provided on the hotel cable network and i saw 'Anna And The King' with Jodie Foster. [/color] I don't think that particular movie was banned, actually someone with an authority told me that the King watched it and liked it. It is a Hollywood movie, that is all. You don't really think that a movie is actually telling exact history, do you? [color:"red"] i have my own story of the current King,but sadly cannot be told. [/color] I got to USA and in a Univ. just about the same time as the Pricess (1st royal child) and do you think we don't hear stories? Most of them have been just that "stories". These people are human beings, just like us. The King is also a man. Also, story versions are never the same!!! Mind you, many Thais discuss things about Royal family, however, discretion must be excercised, that is all. Grant it, many Thais do NOT discuss the subject with foriegners. And it has nothing to do with "freedom of speech". Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 Hi Jasmine. i know the Foster film was not very accurate,i had just read in the past that the film was deemed to be offensive to the Thais. i do not know the full story about the film,but i have read Anna Owens? life story and it seemed quite different to what i saw on the silver screen. my story of the king has nothing to do with the things you mentioned. it is quite innocent,but according to the forum rules we are not suppossed to talk about the Royal Family i think?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 The films and plays based on Anna Leonowen's books ARE OFFENSIVE simply because they are pure bovine dung. Anna was a widow who supported herself by lecturing and selling her two books. Westerners wanted to hear shocking stories, so she created them. Allegedly, Prince Damrong ... who may well have been one of her pupils .. met her years later and Anna apologised to him, saying she didn't really believe anyone would think the books were factual. But Hollywood presents them as the gospel truth. Basically, what the stories do is show a western Christian "lady" bringing civilisation to the ignornant heathen wogs. In reality, King Mongkut was much better educated than Anna, who was the daughter of an Army sergeant and grew up in the barracks in India. (Her posh background was invented by her.) Anna's books don't really push the Christian bit that much, but the 1940s books that was the basis for the films, plays and musicals was rewritten from Anna's 1870s books by a Christian missionary! 'Nuff said. HM the Queen did watch Yul Brynner in "The King and I" on Broadway and went backstage to meet the cast. (She's a descendant of Mongkut, as is HM the King.) The King has also spoken against banning the films. But the government has forbidden their PUBLIC showing, since it realises that many Thais would get quite pissed off at the portrayals and stage protests over it. You can easily find the books and films here for home viewing. Read Anna's own books and you can see what a pompous twit she was. She thought she was acting like a lady when she refused to tell her employer her age and other equally "impertinent questions" which no employer has any right to ask! (If a Thai had spoken as disrespectfully as she did, they'd have been beaten.) Note also that the local Brits ignored her, seeing through her pretense. But the American missionaries couldn't and she hung around with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 That's what I remember about the rather Polish sounding froggie who got in trouble. No royal was actually involved at all. He was just being drunk and obnoxious. And to show how down to earth the Thai royals can really be, HRH Princess Ubonrat has been known to go into the cabin and visit with the pilot and copilot on flights from Japan to Thailand. When HRH Princess Sirindhorn -- the "crown princess" -- was a uni student, her classmates would tie their tongues in knots trying to speak the royal language to her. The princess would laugh and tell them to speak ordinary Thai, saying she was their friend and they should treat her as such. I have students who studied with the Crown Prince's daughter and they tell me she was just as relaxed and friendly in class. I used to have a prince for a boss back in the 1980s, and he was a nice a person as you could want to know. His father was Chulalongkorn's brother! The reason given for the lese majeste law is that the royals are forbidden to speak a word in their defence. Thus it is unfair to let others criticise them when they cannot respond. Sulak Srivarak is a stuffed up crank. He has a circle of followers, but his books generally are about how wonderful he himself is. I have his book about Pridi Phanomyong -- Sulak never met him, but that's no problem -- and it really should be called "Pridi and Me". Sulak talks more about himself than Pridi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 but according to the forum rules we are not suppossed to talk about the Royal Family i think?. ---------------------------------- KS has good reason to fear it may not be handled sensitively, you know how threads get hi-jacked, basically if you can mention something that is not gossipy, not opened to any discussions and shows total respect to HM and his family, you can, we just have to supervise answers are of the same caliber as your post. About the stories often heard, even though they may be true, they can never be corroborated and traced to their sources, it's always so and so met so and so who was told by so and so that..... just plain gossip then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyebee Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 Says JaiGuruDev: Maundy Tuesday Err... I think you'll find it's Maundy THURSDAY - the day before Good Friday. We have Shrove Tuesday. Not a flame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 Not a problem. It was a few years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 The reason given for the lese majeste law is that the royals are forbidden to speak a word in their defence. Just out of curiosity, but why are the royals ?forbidden? to speak in their defense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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