OK to "Gang-rape on TV" says Culture Ministry

[Guest fountainhall]

I suppose nothing should surprise us in the Land of Smiles. After all, wasn't it only a couple of years back when the Culture Ministry berated and hauled to court two young Thai girls who had dared to dance bare-breasted during the Songkran celebrations? Naturally the Culture Ministry was upholding the morals of the nation, admonishing the Thai people about what was best for them. Alas for such self-appointed do-gooders, for what did the homepage of the Culture Ministry's own website portray? Two lovely Thai maidens naked from the waist up! Needless to say, it was quickly taken down and has never reappeared!

 

Now the guardians of morality have really put their foot in it. Or specifically one cultural crusader from the aforementioned Ministry known only as Mrs Lappa has come out with a tirade against the lack of morals in Channel 3's twice-weekly peak-hour Thai-language soap opera ‘Raeng Ngao’ (Power of the Shadow).

 

In this drama, which draws viewership of around 20 million and allegedly helps reduce traffic volume on Bangkok's roads, a high ranking government official on a salary of around Bt. 45,000 is somehow able to drive around in the latest Mercedes and BMWs. He also spends half his time spending money on women who are not his wife. Well, nothing new there, is there? We see it in the newspapers almost daily. So what’s to complain about?

 

Bitchy fight scenes in which someone is thrown down 20 flights of stairs? Nahhh! Been done endlessly before. A 7-year old saying she'll cut out the eys and throw to crocodiles anyone who tries to steal her husband later in life? Tame stuff, that! How about robbery, drunk-driving, guns galore and gay-bashing, chopping off a penis to add spice? This, mind-you is all in a prime time slot of 8:30 pm - with an “over 18 rating”? Mai pen rai. This is Thailand.

 

But the snoopers have been a-snooping. Alerted perhaps by headlines in the Thai media such as, “Nine year old schoolgirl punches and kicks her teacher and pushes her into swimming pool – Raeng Ngao Style!”, the Culture Ministry is leading a charge. It wants Thai TV programme makers to show

 

how proper Thai women actually behave in real life, that is…. keeping their virginity till the day of marriage, keeping their patience under control, praying to the monks everyday, and refraining from spreading gossip and talking nonsense.

 

And finally, Mrs Lappa a leading cultural crusader from the Ministry of Culture had this to say, “I have informed the censors to delete any unacceptable Thai-lady scene as hugging and kissing a man she is not married to . . .”

 

http://thailandtouri...s.blogspot.com/

 

"Hugging and kissing a man she is not married to?" If that was all the Ministry had to say, it would no doubt have been laughed off around the country – as most of its pronouncements have been in the past. But Mrs. Lappa could not leave matters there. She could not contain herself and jumped in to the moral morasse not just with both feet, but with an avenging outrage. Concluded dear Mrs. Lappa –

 

“However, a woman can still be gang-raped on TV, so long as she deserves it.”

 

"So long as she deserves it?" You can actually “deserve” to be gang-raped? This stupid crusading guardian of the nation's morals is devoid of one iota of any moral decency. That she should be a civil servant is an utter disgrace.

[ChristianPFC]

One of my favorite jokes:

 

9 out of 10 people enjoy gang rape.

[Guest timmberty]

One of my favorite jokes:

 

9 out of 10 people enjoy gang rape.

 

which one doesnt ??

[Guest thaiworthy]

“However, a woman can still be gang-raped on TV, so long as she deserves it.”

 

Absolutely horrifying and it makes me angry.

 

which one doesnt ??

 

I suppose the correct answer is a woman. But not funny, especially if you've ever been a rape victim. Closer to home here in Thailand, I also consider underage as rape victims, because by law they don't have the maturity to know any difference.

[Guest fountainhall]

It's a joke, in the same vein as a lot of lawyer and Polish jokes. But frankly, not remotely funny in my book given the scars any gang-rape victim will carry for life.

 

What makes Mrs. Ladda's comment so utterly hideous is there is a mountain of evidence to prove that rape is all about domination and control. Presumably that is in fact what she means. If a Thai woman is stupid enough to break the moral code that Mrs. Ladda and her cohorts lay down, then she has to be taught a lesson. You can almost hear them saying: 'TIme she was brought under control. Gang-rape will sort that young hussy out!'

 

People like Mrs. Ladda - and hopefully the more times her name is actually spelled out, the more chance it will come to someone's attention - should be burned at the stake.

[ChristianPFC]

which one doesnt ??

 

The person who is being gang-raped.

 

(When you tell this joke to someone, you can usually see him/her thinking and count the time until he/she gets the joke. The reaction depends on the person's sense of humor.)

[Guest timmberty]

strangly enough christian i knew the answer ...but i dont think its very funny ..

tho it may get a snigger after a few beers .. rape isnt really one of the things i like joking about .. tis a pretty horrendous crime .. the biggest shame is judges dont seem to think its that much of a problem ..

and sadly until it affects them, like most crimes, people will get let off or slapped on the wrist

[Guest fountainhall]

Aren't the major problems with successfully prosecuting rape cases the possibility that it might just have been consensual, the reluctance of women (especially ) to come forward to avoid the stigma attached to rape, and the lack of witnesses? With gang-rape, though, the rapists themselves become the witnesses and so the police, one would hope, should be able to extract confessions.

[Rogie]

I'm sure many of us have read about the awful gang-rape of a young woman in Delhi, India. She has since died from her injuries. India is in a state of shock, and it seems it's finally dawned on many how many women are treated by men, almost as if they are cattle.

 

Just as in America there is an intensive debate over guns, precipitated by the outrage at Sandy Hook, maybe the death of this poor woman at the hands of several thugs will serve to shake the country awake out of its slumbering ignorance and apathy.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20863707

[Guest fountainhall]

With the fuss over Channel 3's soap opera ‘Raeng Ngao’ only just subsiding, now another Channel 3 prime-time soap opera is in trouble, this time one about a Prime Minister, "his crooked deputy who is involved in a dubious satellite project, and a sorcerer who performs black rites to manipulate political events." (No, I didn't make that up!) This has resulted in public outrage which led the national telecom regulator to call an emergency meeting on Monday to review the abrupt axing.

 

This time the Ministry of Culture has not got involved. And neither has the government, according to government spokepersons. They allege that the Channel cancelled the final three episodes, instead editing them down into a one-hour slot.

 

Channel 3 has said it pulled the show because the content of 'Nua Mek 2' breached Section 37 of the Broadcast and Telecommunications Operations Act. Yet, the Bangkok Post this morning points out that 

 

Section 37 bars broadcast content that seeks to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, threatens national security or morality, constitutes profanity or harms people's mental or physical health

 

No-one seems able to work out how that relates to the programme content. The possible allusion to one or more of the Thaksin clan seems the likely reason. Thaksin himself was a former  satellite tycoon.

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/329406/soap-opera-axing-sparks-political-firestorm

[Rogie]

now another Channel 3 prime-time soap opera is in trouble, this time one about a Prime Minister, "his crooked deputy who is involved in a dubious satellite project, and a sorcerer who performs black rites to manipulate political events."

Did you watch this FH, and if so do they have English sub-titles? Is it anything like Britain's much-loved "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister?" (which incidentally I believe is being resurrected with a totally new cast but presumably playing the same characters). What exactly is meant by the term 'black rites'? Is it witchcraft or devil worship, or some kind of pagan Thai ritual?

[Guest fountainhall]

I knew absolutely nothing about it until I read the paper today. Since it was on a local channel, it would not have had subtitles. I assume “black rites” refers to some form of sorcery/withcraft.

 

It is definitely not at all like the ”Yes, Prime Minister” comedy series.  There are some quotes from the series on the front page of The Nation which give a better idea of what it was about –

 

From the character 'Dr Mekha', a respectable politician and prime minister:

 

"People who cheat the country don't deserve any honour. I will not let anyone exploit the taxpayers' money."

 

"The happiness from cutting an eight-lane road into a national park, killing wildlife and destroying the environment can only be felt by people with brains less intelligent than those of animals."

 

"If you don't fully understand being human and the meanings of 'goodness', 'morality' and 'virtue', you don't play politics. That's because you will end up tarnishing the Parliament and destroying the country."

 

From Dr Mekha's crooked deputy:

 

"It's totally stupid for a person with power to fail to use his power. If it's not called 'stupid', what should I call it?"

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Concern-over-content-behind-axing-of-drama-30197358.html

 

These lines make it fairly clear that the Deputy was modelled on a certain Prime Minister no longer in power!

[Rogie]

These lines make it fairly clear that the Deputy was modelled on a certain Prime Minister no longer in power!

 

That 'crooked deputy' probably has less brains even than one of my childhood heroes Deputy 'deppity' Dawg.  But, I'm not entirely stupid and can guess who that might be!

 

Dr Mekta, now who might he be modelled on? Has anyone in Thailand's political past emerged 'untarnished'?

[Guest fountainhall]

I think they may be dead! 

[Rogie]

India has a similar problem to some other countries, such as China, in that many parents prefer a boy child over a girl. Unfortunately they may  go so far as to practice foeticide (abortion of a foetus) or infanticide (murder of an infant).

 

What happens further down the line when boys grow up and look for a girlfriend or wife is not hard to imagine. I expect there is a certain amount of gay sex but sooner or later any heterosexual is going to become frustrated if he cannot find a mate. In some cases he will go to extremes, which is bad enough, but - hopefully in very rare instances - he may join in what is sometimes called gang rape.

 

Here is some of the background to the problem:

 

The death of a student who was gang-raped on a Delhi bus has prompted anguished soul-searching about the place of women in Indian society. The widespread killing of female foetuses and infants is well-documented, but less well-known is the trafficking of girls across the country to make up for the resulting shortages.

 

Tens of thousands of girls disappear in India every year. They are sold into prostitution, domestic slavery and, increasingly, into marriage in the northern states of India where the sex ratio between men and women has been skewed by the illegal - but widespread - practice of aborting girl foetuses.There are no official statistics on how many girls are sold into marriage in the northern states of India, but activists believe the number is on the rise, fuelled both by demand for women in the relatively wealthy north, and poverty in other parts of India.

 

Every house in northern India is feeling the pressure, in every house there are young men who cannot find women and who are frustrated," says social activist Rishi Kant, whose organization Shakti Vahini (or Power Brigade) works closely with the police to rescue victims.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20938125

[Guest fountainhall]

China's problem is greater than India's - for the time being. In a country with strong cultural traditions making it often deemed essential to have a boy child, China's restriction on one child per family (now slightly relaxed) resulted in an imbalance of 122 males to 100 females in 1997 - up from 106 to 100 in 1980.

 

It was recently estimated that the ratio at birth is now 113 to 100; under 15 years old it rises to 117 to 100; in the 15-64 bracket, it is 106 to 100. How accurate the statistics are is uncettain, as there are major differences between the towns and the countryside. However, one result is certain: not only will tens of millions of young men be unable to marry, women are becoming more valuable and will have a greater bargaining position in any marriage.

 

http://moneymamba.com/china-male-female-ratio/

 

I read somewhere that Chinese guys will start to look outside China for wives. Either that, or the gay scene may have to mushroom exponentially 

[Rogie]

I read somewhere that Chinese guys will start to look outside China for wives.

 

That raises an interesting point.

 

Presumably the well educated, well-to-do males will be able to afford to enter the marriage-ring, almost like an auction where they can bid high and secure the woman of their dreams.

 

The poor peasant living in a rural part of the country will be unable to afford to travel abroad I would have thought, at least for the time being.

 

That leaves those men in the middle, those unable to afford the standard of living required by many women, a house, car etc, but able to afford foreign travel.

 

That brings us back to the problem in India, women are being trafficked from poor areas to the wealthy areas that have an imbalance of sexes. Might something similar happen in China I wonder?