chuckwoww Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 "What taints Thailand's image more: Honesty or bureaucrats banning books? imageThe inoffensive and offbeat travel book Bangkok Inside Out has been banned in Thailand after the director of Cultural Monitoring at the Thai Ministry of Culture, Ladda Tangsuphachai, said that it tainted the image of Thailand and its people. The ban follows a front-page story in the large-circulation Kom Chad Lok, which said that the book ''discusses negative subjects such as fake goods, gambling, gay performances, touts and scams, and places such as Patpong, Nana, and Khaosan Road''. Oh no! Terrible, just terrible... The paper, which is owned by the Naton Group, then followed up with an inane series on ''critical foreigners". The Kom Chad Lok broke new grounds in journalism in early 2004 when it featured a front-page photograph of a glazed-eyed man holding a dead chicken, accompanied by a story on how the chicken had been ''raped'' and then strangled by the man. Apparently that article did not taint Thailand's image...." http://farangaffairs.com/pmach/splash_more.php?id=92_0_2_0_M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 Now now dont be logical. :: Classic stuff from LOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkkbound04 Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 I raised this in another thread but it did'nt seem to get taken up. I've now read the book and if Bangkok Insideout is deemed offensive to the authorities then the country is on a strange and dangerous track. I guess Bangkok Time Out( as it too has some hostile comments about Thailand)will follow, sites like this are liable to be scrutinised and at what point do we become unacceptable? KS, I hope you have a contingency plan in case this site is no longer acceptable in LOS? JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted December 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 jitagawn said:Now now dont be logical. :: Classic stuff from LOS. Didn't realize this had been mentioned already. Sorry. Maybe the threads should be joined. I should also have said the comments weren't mine....I just went back and added inverted commas. Can't be too careful these days. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 The paper, which is owned by the Naton Group, then followed up with an inane series on ''critical foreigners". I'd like to see these articles; do you have a link (a Thai or English language website is fine.) The Nation Group has been one of the media groups that was skpetical of T and TFT from the outset, but they are not angels. They engage in more than their fair share of nationalistic pandering and posturing. There are nationalistic and xenophobic nuts in every country, but they are usually found on the fringes. What makes Thailand different is that they seem to occupy the majority center. It is perfectly acceptable and indeed often persuasive for an industry leader to rely on racist cant to attack sensible economic policies when they challenge his personal interests - all he needs is a foreignor to express an opinion in favor of those policies and those policies, by local definition, must be part of a policy to "take over" Thailand. The hyper-sensitivity of Thailand about its "image" and the things that concern Thais - in the face of what actually happens here - also continues to amaze me. But what annoys me is the "your'e only a guest here" comment from tax evading criminal business leaders. You can, indeed you are obligated to, fund the country's coffers, but don't you dare say anything bad about our policies. And on that subject, don't you dare mention to any of your foreign friends that we don't want you criticizing our policies here - they might get the wrong impression and stop investing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAT_AUSSIE Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 so is that book of the shelves allready? I wanted a copy but i'm not in BKK till end of the month.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted December 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 How's your Thai? http://www.komchadluek.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_numbers Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 You'll have to buy it overseas Fat Aussie. Thai bookshops caved in like good little cogs in the system the minute the Culture Ministry blew the whistle. That includes Asia Books, which acknowledged it yanked the title yesterday in ThaiDay, the insert in the International Herald Tribune. Censorship plain and simple, and it will hardly stop people from buying the book overseas before they come to Thailand, which is where the majority of guidebooks are sold. Not to mention that again by attacking these books they give them more PR than any ad campaing could typical shit in LOS. cheers, the_numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkkbound04 Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 This could be great marketing strategy, hype it up as the book they banned!!!! Has to sell more copies of it (even if its gonna disapoint when read as there is so little to shock or surprise). JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 I wonder what kind of stuff the gov could try if parts of the book were avalable online? their policy is a bit like trying to put out a forest fire by stepping on embers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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