Thai beaurocrats banning books now

[buksida]

The Thai Ministry of Culture says the book Bangkok Inside Out taints the image of Thailand and its people, and the country's booksellers have apparently been told that anyone selling it is subject to a fine and/or imprisonment. Not only have the officials totally misunderstood the book, but their action itself taints Thailand's image.

We are surprised and deeply saddened by the sudden focus in the Thai press and by the Thai Ministry of Culture on our book, Bangkok Inside Out. For the past 10 months it has sat prominently on the shelves of bookshops across Thailand and overseas, has sold briskly and has earned rave reviews from numerous respected publications such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and Thailand's The Nation and Bangkok Post newspapers.

On November 22, Thailand's prominent daily newspaper, Kom Chad Luek, ran a front page story quoting a senior Thai official, Ms Ladda Tangsuphachai, director of cultural monitoring at the Ministry of Culture, alleging that Bangkok Inside Out taints the image of Thailand and its people. The article states that our book "discusses negative subjects such as fake goods, gambling, gay performances, touts and scams, and places such as Patpong, Nana, and Khaosan Road", and singles out a photograph that shows a bar girl on a farang's (foreigner's) lap.

Ladda is quoted as saying: "According to the constitution, the press has freedom to publish. So, all we can do is to take the problematic books off the shelf." She submitted our book to the Royal Thai Police for further investigation and has asked them to consider whether there is a case for legal action against us.

Kom Chad Luek has continued running follow-up stories on our book and on "critical foreigners" in general.

Full Story: Asia Times Online where you can also read the Book Review

[lomuamart]

I caught a bit about this earlier this morning and it's all a bit silly really isn't it?
After all, they might as well ban "The Damage Done" and never show "The Beach" again.
I'm not sure of the historical facts, but certainly "The King and I" with Youl Brinner (sic) was banned here. I'm not sure if it can be shown now. That's a question.
From Sondhi to....... well others.
I've got nothing else to say, other than another prat in government has probably put her proverbial foot in it.

[Norseman]

It's just sad.
Sooooo very sad that some TRT-people don't realize that freedom of the press is the same thing as freedom to the people.
It's like ostrich policy, bury your head in the sand and everything is ok.

[viking escort]

I read "Bangkok Inside Out" before I went to Thailand in October and for a farang that like Thailand and the thai people and wants to understand them a little bit better, it's a great book. Those guys that wrote that book really loves Thailand. To bann that book is not only sad, it's a big joke.

[Bamboo Grove]

It's like with so many other things in Asia. The fact that these things happen isn't bad and they don't need to be changed. It's the person (or in this case the book) that is bad for telling the truth.

[Farang]

,
Fake good are a risk tantamount to gambling, much as watching gay performances by touts. These scams
are pulled on places such as Patpong, Nana, and Khaosan Road, all the while having a girl sit on the foreigners lap.

But I won't discuss that.
,

[lomuamart]

I havn't read the book, but if some of it is about fake goods, then do remember that the UK, the USA etc etc exert big pressure on the Thai authorities to stop them coming in by the cartload.