A Mother's Day prank on Cambodian TV has backfired on social media, with the producers accused of cruelty to a teenage girl.
Autumn Allen, a 13-year-old American singer living in Cambodia, had just performed on a local television show last Sunday when she was told that she would be reunited with her mother.
Ms Allen has been living in Phnom Penh with her father since 2008. She last saw her mother, who lives in the US, when she was six.
Wiping away tears, Autumn told the show's hosts that it was her "dream to see her mother again".
"My mother last held and kissed me and told me that she would always love me," she told the audience.
But the promise turned out to be a prank staged by the TV station. Instead of Autumn's mother, a local comedian - dressed in drag - came out pretending to be her.
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Big Boy wrote:I guess any publicity is good publicity. If nothing else, people have heard her name now
Totally disagree, how can you break the heart of a young girl like that - unless as a result she does actually get to meet her mother, it could affect her for the rest of her life.
I would not say that Thai TV is tasteless, just broadcasts programmes that appeal to it's audience and so attracts the commercial sponsorship which is the reason for its existence.
It just happens that said programmes do not appeal to most foreigners which is irrelevant when looking at the big picture.
Western TV programmes can be just as tasteless. Certain "reality" shows such as 'Big Brother' or "Get me out of here , I'm a non-entity" are hardly better.
A GRATEFUL GUEST OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND & HER PEOPLE
I recently watch a couple of films and interviews by Norman Wisdom. Back in the 50's that was slapstick at it's best and was really funny. Thai TV is full of slapstick,especially chan, 3 but 60 years on and they still haven't caught up with the British slapstick of the 50's
Thai TV is IMO some of the worst programming ever set to air.
The 20 minute interruptions with mindless commercials, the dubbing of dare I say it C class films with inappropriate Thai voiceovers, screens obliterated with Chinese and Thai subtitles, the need for ridiculous sound effects to reinforce humour, the endless channels flogging things - the list goes on.
I must however admit to watching the occasional soccer match and Muay Thai even though I can't understand the dialogue.
I can't really say whether it is tasteless or not because I've never managed to tolerate more than about 60 seconds of it. It is one of the only things that irritates me in Thailand, so I simply avoid it altogether.
Don't try to impress me with your manner of dress cos a monkey himself is a monkey no less - cold fact
Do you ever watch Thai music videos? they are all the same. Beautiful Thai women being beaten by Thai boyfriend when they are called out for being a butterfly or drinking or gambling.
Women grabbed by the throat, knocked to the ground and punched and kicked. Lots of yelling and screaming and tears. Then the Thai man is sorry and the rest of the video he is trying get the girl back.
Domestic violence is almost always a central theme.
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
