JJsushi Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 I watched way too much Thai television on this last trip. Some themes constantly hit me in the face while watching the soap operas, game shows and commercials. This post is not meant to be thought provoking only observations I wish to share. There was not one entertainment show in which the host or hostess was over the age of 30. Does Thailand have a youth obsessed culture now? This obsession with selling every personal care product with "whitening" is absurd for a country based in Southeast Asia. Don't people realize that the crap doesn't work? Why do broadcasters not show the multi hued, various physical features and ethnic richness of Thai people on television? This Euro/Japanese/Chinese/white skinned/ straight nosed concept of beauty being bombarded across the airwaves is starting to be quite sickening for one such as I who loves all ethnic looks and hues. Is there a reason why it seems as if every Thai woman over the age of 40 wears a short matronly type of hair style that reminds you of the 1950's? Where the hell are the Thai cultural and educational shows? Can ubc sports please show more than English premier leaugue football and repeats of old matches? I would even appreciate waching other teams rather than Arsenal or Man U. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Hi jjsushi, there's one show I know of where the female host is defiantely older, the Jukebox show. Also one of the few shows I can enjoy. But, yep, I get your idea. Another thing I don't understand is the fact that all participants are superstars, either in music or film. There are no shows on Thai tv were the "normal" people participate. What do these so called superstars care wether they win 10K or 15 or 20K :: Strange phenomena. There's educational programs, but you wouldn't believe how boring they are. A shot on a classroom or a whiteboard and than repetition of the object. Wether it's maths, english oranything else. I think ESPN is pretty cool, as long as they don't show too many Man U games. This is also a strange phenomena, endless repeats of games played sometimes weeks ago :: Cheers, Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlequinbkk Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 [color:"red"] Does Thailand have a youth obsessed culture now? [/color] So it would seem. Another unpleasant manifestion of this are all the job ads I see setting an upper age limit of 25 or 30, even for job requiring skills and expereince that can take several years to acquire. Harlequin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Hi, "Another thing I don't understand is the fact that all participants are superstars, either in music or film. There are no shows on Thai tv were the "normal" people participate." Ask a Thai about this once and the answer was: "Why would anybody watch if there were normal people in it?" No, I don't get it either. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Hi KS, yeah, I know, very strange indeed. Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 I basically agree with you on all accounts. It's strange indeed. Another thing that I find peculiar is how 'commercialized' Thai TV is. There is hardly a show where there isn't a sign for some whiskey brand or ice coffee staring you straight in your face. -- Having spent a few years in the US and rather accustomed to the commercialism going on there, I still find Thailand way over the top, or close to at least... Educational shows. Have you seen the daily 60 seconds of English lessons? It teaches the people of Thailand useful phrases as 'Can I have red wine by the glass, please'. Pffft. As if this would be of importance to the majority of this society...anyway, as said, it's only on for one whole minute per day... Exceptions to your general observations. I guess there are a few. The daily show with news from all over Thailand does not feature overly 'young, perfect and beautiful' hosts (one of them the same guy conducting the English lessons mentioned above). Also, some of the game shows have almost 'normal' people in them (i.e. they are kids) as for example the Thai version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. -- Some of the stand-up comedy shows may also be filed as exceptions.... Overall though, it's exactly as you've said. The daily soaps -- the prime example. I cannot fathom how my gf can be so glued to a few of these. She has NOTHING in common with the people featured...And don't come here and tell me how American soaps are exactly the same, e.g. Dallas, The Dynasty etc. At least in the American counterpart there are sections in the show that deals with what is normal life at that level, i.e. JR out-manouvering someone in an oil deal, buying a wine-yard and so on. The Thai soaps dealing with hi-society is all about 'broken heart', 'love', 'the evil step-mother' and 'mia nois' -- but maybe that is normal life at that level (I don't know really, I'm probably not qualified to comment since my Thai isn't good enough...but at least I think nothing looks normal in these soaps...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJsushi Posted January 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Says Straycat: Exceptions to your general observations. I guess there are a few. The daily show with news from all over Thailand does not feature overly 'young, perfect and beautiful' hosts (one of them the same guy conducting the English lessons mentioned above). Also, some of the game shows have almost 'normal' people in them (i.e. they are kids) as for example the Thai version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. -- Some of the stand-up comedy shows may also be filed as exceptions.... I noticed the news types were a bit older and more stiff also. That is why I used the term entertainment because I doubt if few people actually watch the news with the fervor that they watch the game shows, video shows, soap operas,lifestyle shows, etc. I haven't noticed the english lessons segments that you mentioned. Next time I will check them out to see how relevant and edcational they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJsushi Posted January 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Says limbo: Another thing I don't understand is the fact that all participants are superstars, either in music or film. There are no shows on Thai tv were the "normal" people participate. What do these so called superstars care wether they win 10K or 15 or 20K :: Yeah I noticed that too. The people playing for prizes were all soap, music or movie stars. I was thinking to myself if all of these game shows were "rigged" or fixed so that they would win. Game show fixing is a crime in the States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falang Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 My tought seeing Thai TV for the first time: how unThai it is! Didn't see much improvement on the last five year. You don't see any darker Thai people in those soaps but correct me if I am wrong the darker skin Thai are the majority in Thailand only time I saw darker skin it's maybe at the lukthung programs late at night. I try to convince my tyrack that her skin color is very beautiful and that she don't need anything to get her skin more white. I also tell her that farang are spending a lot of money to come to Thailand or other tropical country to get a tan and that the darker skin in farangland is view has a sign of richeness. It's a very difficult task because she live in LOS and the image the TV is sending her is that it's more beautyful the whiter your skin is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 I know several (OK, but at least more than one) gameshows that have only regular people as contestants, never any stars. And since I do not live in Thailand and can only see TGN, I assume that there are similar shows that are not broadcast on TGN. As for the age question, I'd guess that all of the gameshow hosts that I know about are a lot older than 30. The two guys hosting "07 Show" (Sanya and Santisuk) must be at least 40 by now. Not to mention the hosts of "Cha Cha Cha" or "OhNo Show." Most newsreaders seem older too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.