Hi-So Hypocrites As Shameless As Immoral Low-So Entertainers

[Guest lazyphil]

the dude wants tobone her brains out, just a bitter fuckwit!!!

[gobbledonk]

For a supposedly 'classless' society, we have our share of 'born to the Manor' snobs in Oz, but I cant imagine any of our talking heads getting away with this type of interview. Maybe we are all too PC - beats me - but 'fame' is the new currency, even with YouTube 'stars', and it doesnt pay to piss someone off who might actually be the next GaGa or even a Kelly Clarkson. She's in Oz at the moment, and gets the kind of reception normally reserved for Kylie

[ThaiHome]

As is often the case, most people are missing what is actually going on here. In order to put it all together you need to read a bit of background.

 

Woody came to the attention of the bleeding heart republicans (in the Thai context) “liberals†at New Mandela when he interviewed Princess Chulabhorn back in April. They published an anonymously written article that was less then complimentary of both the content of the interview and of Woody, describing the him as “humbly conducting his interview on the floor by her feet and occasionally crawling on his knees and handsâ€

 

Now fast forward to September 14 and Andrew Walker writes a post in which he gets a dig at the Democrats and the cultural aspect that he thinks Woody represents by contrasting Woody’s interview style and content for the Princesses against how he conducted the interview with Nong Ja. Again, all this as attempting to put the blame for all of Thailand political problems due to an ongoing class warfare that would be solved if they would just did away with the monarchy and let Thaksin and his henchmen rule.

 

The post does explain well what the controversy is about

 

The song itself is a tale of a young lady with an itchy ear (khan huu, คันหู) that won’t go away. Packed with double-entendre (and invitations for vowel substitution), the song relates her quest for relief: she has tried a cotton-bud, but to no avail (เอาสำลี มาปั่น à¸à¹‡à¹„ม่หาย). Perhaps the itch was caused by some water getting in when she was showering washing her hair (อาบน้ำ สระหัว น้ำคงเข้า). She asks her mother for something to fix it (à¹à¸¡à¹ˆà¸ˆà¹‹à¸² หายา ให้หนูหน่อย). The singer explains that when she was a child it didn’t ever itch (ตอนเด็à¸à¹† ไม่เคยคันซัà¸à¸—ี) but it started just two or three years after she became a young woman (พอเริ่มเป็นสาว ได้à¹à¸„่สองสามปี หูà¸à¹‡à¹€à¸£à¸´à¹ˆà¸¡à¸¡à¸µ อาà¸à¸²à¸£ คันคัน). If anyone can give her a cure, she will give them anything. She will drink it or inject it (once or twice if necessary) so long as it is good medicine (จะà¸à¸´à¸™à¸‰à¸µà¸” ขอให้เป็นยาดี จะลองให้ฉีด ยาสัà¸à¸—ีสองที ถ้ายาเค้าดี หูคงหายคัน).

 

There is nothing particularly startling here; rather obvious puns, but all good fun. The song seems very typical of the lewd word play that is popular in so many entertainment contexts in Thailand (and in many other places: think of Grace Jones singing “pull up to my bumper in your long black limousineâ€).

 

The trouble is that the singer’s performance in the video leaves nothing to even the most challenged imagination. The singer is 20-year-old Nong Ja (นงผณี มหาดไทย – interesting surname!), a student from Suphanburi, with 100 thousand likes on her Facebook page.

 

 

In my opinion, saying the Thai upper class (hi-so) is the only group that would condemn this video is ludicrous and in fact an outright lie. I guarantee the reaction of most middle age Thais, regardless of class, to the performance would be far worse then what Woody did during the interview. Anyone that disputes this has no real idea of how conservative Thai cultural is about such blatant displays of sexuality. I have seen many luk thung shows and have never seen a performers or background dancer ever dressed with that little bit of clothes or move like that right in front of the audience.

 

But all this is just part of an ongoing campaign by western liberals and expat Thais to put the political problems of the past couple of years into a class context rather than the battle between groups of elites that it actually is. It plays well to the western egalitarian attitude and hatred of any upper class, and particularly the Thai one, held by so many westerns as displayed by the posts in this thread.

 

Pavin himself has been at the forefront of this camping to lay every problem at the feet of the Thai upper class with relentless criticism of the Democrats and the part of the Thai upper class that supports them. But he is never critical Thaksin or his political henchmen, who in fact belong to the very same class, as does Pavin himself.

 

To read the New Mandela articles, just type “Woody†in the search box on the home page.

TH

[Flashermac]

<< But he is never critical Thaksin or his political henchmen, who in fact belong to the very same class, as does Pavin himself. >>

 

 

And this is what I cannot understand. Thaksin, his family, Chalerm etc are much more "amnart" than I can ever hope to be. But suddenly they are the champions of the "prai" and the heroes of the red shirts. It is sort of like the Sheriff of Nottingham deciding to become the new leader of the outlaws of Sherwood Forest.

[Boo Radley]

Came across this music video of the milder Liw Waritsara version from 2000:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF-gImknTV0

[gobbledonk]

Came across this music video of the milder Liw Waritsara version from 2000:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF-gImknTV0

 

I still prefer those kinky Japanese 'schoolgirls'.

[sayjann]

I still prefer those kinky Japanese 'schoolgirls'.

both ladies are quite cute......

i certainly would'nt climb over them to get to any of you lot.....

[gobbledonk]

both ladies are quite cute......

i certainly would'nt climb over them to get to any of you lot.....

 

Very happy to hear THAT, Sayjann !

[ThaiHome]

A much better assesment of the issue without the political spin Andrew Walker and Pavin attempted to put on it and some here bought into hook, line, and sinker

TH

 

 

Dirty dancing leaves everyone in a spin

By Tulsathit Taptim

 

 

 

Controversial "Itchy Ears"

The latest craze sweeping Thailand is the band Ja Turbo and their song "Itchy Ears". The title and the actions may seem a little at odds with each other unless you know that the vulgar Thai word for a females genitals is ...

 

TV talk show host Woody Milintachinda was not the one who threw the first stone at Ja Turbo, but his was probably the biggest and it bounced back the hardest.

 

Describe the online community any way you want - powerful, fickle or suspicious - but, overnight, it has all but redeemed the most controversial Thai female teen singer of the hour and put a well-loved celebrity on a pillory of hatred and anger. Ja Turbo, whose real name is Nongpanee Mahadtai, had put on a show that made Michael Jackson's crotch-grabbing move look like a teasing act in a parents' day performance. The YouTube clip of her show has attracted 15 million views and counting. Naturally, she came under fire from left, right and centre. Until Woody came along, that is.

 

He invited "Nong Ja" to his show and asked some hard-hitting questions, some of which, critics say, were his own thinly-veiled commentaries. Woody was joined by two like-minded commentators who helped create an impression of holier-than-thou adults character assassinating a helpless teen who had been forced to be naughty and bitchy to stay competitive in a fierce nighttime entertainment business.

 

The rest, as they say, is history. The online world re-evaluated and then embraced her while turning against him. If the compassion showered upon Ja was amazing, the extreme hostility towards Woody was shocking. He has been cursed, scolded, scorned and virtually torn to pieces on YouTube. Tens of thousands of stinging feedbacks prompted the TV host to clarify his stand, which probably has made things worse.

 

In defending himself, Woody suggested that people should not judge him based on that one broadcast interview, where many things had to be taken into account. "If you ask me what I think of her personally, I like her a lot. But you have to understand that, on TV, you've got to keep your style in asking interview questions," he said.

 

That was what Ja tried to say during the interview, albeit in a stammering, emotionally-stricken manner. After Woody said, "What got to me was the question why our country has this kind of woman", she replied, her voice shaken, "It was just a show. It's a job. An honest job. If I had been able to choose, I would not have chosen this kind of life. I'm not that good looking and I don't sing that well. In this business, I needed to find a selling point."

 

Misguided about a "selling point", maybe, but what the audience saw was a naive girl being totally truthful about what she did and why she did it. My younger brother played in a pub band and I know exactly what she was talking about. When bands auditioned for contracts, the first thing prospective employers demanded was that female singers and dancers be scantily dressed. The dirtier the dance, the better the chance of getting the job. Like it or not, that's the way things are.

 

"It doesn't matter if you play like the Scorpions or are terrible as hell," my brother told me. "The first thing a pub-owner is interested in is near nudity in your show. Every band now has to employ sexy singers who are not afraid to appear all but naked. The way Nong Ja is dressed in that video is a modest version of what's been going on in various pubs around the country."

 

Putting Nong Ja's clip on YouTube does not expose her. It exposes what countless struggling young artists have to go through to stay afloat in the cutthroat entertainment business. The girls have to seduce to survive. Some of them are having fun in the process. Nong Ja was giggling while performing was what described during the Woody talk show as "the lowest form of art".

 

Perhaps it's too early to call the growing support for her in the online community a solid sign that Thai society is becoming far more liberal. Maybe Woody inadvertently helped turn it around for Nong Ja. She did not insist that it was the right thing to do. All she did was innocently ask for sympathy, and that might have been a straight shot to the heart. Public fire was redirected and it was Woody who had to bear the brunt of it.

 

In his self-defence, Woody said viewers might not even have thoroughly watched the talk show before passing judgement. In her self-defence, Ja said that her controversial dance "did not reflect who I am". In a world where judgement is passed increasingly quickly and easily, both of them are most likely right. Each, however, has a different lesson to learn.

 

 

-- The Nation 2011-09-30

[Flashermac]

The Nation does have some good people working for them.

 

And maybe puffed up Woody has learnt that Thailand is not ready for US style "shock jocks" on TV.

 

p.s. I remember a singer in a moh lam club bouncing around being dirty and flashing her knickers at everyone as she sang a raunchy song. Then she roamed around looking for cash tips from the customers. That's what I meant by this being typical.