Movies to adopt age restrictions

The Culture Ministry has finished drafting film rating regulations for all movies before they are released in theatres. The regulations will be forwarded to the National Film and Video Committee and the Cabinet for approval. They are expected to be put into force next month. Under the proposed film rating system, movies will be grouped by age. Classifying audiences will give film directors the opportunity to fully express their creativity, said Somchai Seanglai, Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary. Since films will only be screened before the appropriate age group, movies will no longer be cut or censored, he added. Somchai was confident the proposed regulations will be accepted by people in the film industry as they were invited to take part in the drafting process. "Once the regulations come into effect, movie theatre operators will have to inform their customers about a film's rating," he said. "And if staff allow in people who are not supposed to see a movie, the operator will face at least a one-year jail term or be fined up to 100,000 baht, or both." The ratings regulation will also be applied to DVDs and VCDs, which will display the rating on their packaging. The draft of the film rating regulation divides movies into seven categories, including violence-free movies, movies that should be promoted to all audiences, movies for people with a minimum age of 13, 15, 18 or 20, and films that are banned for

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/150908_News/15Sep2008_news15.php

Excellent! About time too. I hope this really does mean that movies will now not be edited to suit a universal audience.

Well done!

HoJo

Excellent! About time too. I hope this really does mean that movies will now not be edited to suit a universal audience.

I'm thinking that their not censoring will result in more movies just being outright banned, one of 7 categories in their catalog.

With some trepidation as to what might be banned, I am quite pleased with this. I really hate seeing butchered movies or movies with the blurry circle.

With some trepidation as to what might be banned, I am quite pleased with this. I really hate seeing butchered movies or movies with the blurry circle

Agreed, but what I hate to see more is kids of 8, 9 and 10 sitting in the theatre watching content that may have escaped the censor's knife but is still highly unsuitable for young and impressionable minds.

I recall going to see Kill Bill here when it came out and there were three nippers definitely under the age of 12 sat to one side of me. I grimaced when they giggled excitedly at images of swords hacking off limbs in the infamous "Crazy 88" scenes. Although the violence was somewhat comic book in its portrayal, it was a long way from being appropriate viewing material for such innocent young eyes.

Edited September 15, 200817 yr by Bananaman

Classifying audiences will give film directors the opportunity to fully express their creativity, said Somchai Seanglai, Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary. Since films will only be screened before the appropriate age group, movies will no longer be cut or censored, he added. The draft of the film rating regulation divides movies into seven categories, including violence-free movies, movies that should be promoted to all audiences, movies for people with a minimum age of 13, 15, 18 or 20, and films that are banned for

This is great news (apart from the banned category). I'd be interested to know what it is they deem appropriate for a 20 year-old to see over an 18 year-old. Seems a somewhat arbitrary distinction in age at that point.