Complaints Filed Against Topless Women Dancing During Songkran.

[virtualtraveller]

Culturally this incident has sent forth a message that Thailand is a draconian state, no because you can't flash your tits, but because you can go to jail for 5 years simply for filming it and putting it up on Youtube. So, if I film some tourist sunbathing topless and post it online I'm a 'computer criminal', but there's no law really for the police to punish the 'toplessness' other than a meek 500 baht indecency law.

This censorship and abuse of the computer criminal act HAS GOT TO STOP!!

[pedro01]

Sigh....

"It hurts the image of Thailand, in particular Silom," he said. "It distorts Songkran culture too."

Image of Silom???

Guys grabbing your arm and saying "porno DVDs, Sir?"

Touts showing you pics of fishbowl girls asking you if you want a massage.

Old gals/guys at the end of Patpong road asking you if you want sex at all hours of the day.

Patpong with it's go-gos and blow job bars.

Pirated DVDs, watches and designer goods.

Police extorting money out of tourists.

I could go on... It was only 12 months ago I had to close the office because a bunch of idiots were lobbing grenades around the place.

And 1 naked chick hurts the image of Silom? Please....

[DP25]

Ahaha look at the foreigners angry that you can't go naked in the streets get a 500 baht fine for doing so, most places it'll be a heck of a lot more than that. In parts of US they'd be put on the sex offender registry

[1219patrickm]

Silom, topless dancers....and the news is?

Some had tops on. I think that is ther real news.

[jaideeguy]

Absolutely more harmful to Thai culture [tourism draw] than the drunken teenagers throwing filthy klong water by the full buckets at oncomming motorcycles. and much more harmfull than the road deaths that happen every year at this insane celebration.

get your priorities straight!!!

[terryp]

There is no hope for this country, something so trivial becomes a massive blown out of proportion endgame yet the massive problems in Thailand like human rights and the wonderful POLICE corruption are constantly swept under the carpet.

Lets not worry about the 200+ DEAD over Songkran from drunk drivers etc

The huge Illegal PROSTITUTION business in Thailand is generating Billions of baht in tourism revenue..

Many of the prudes on this site would do well to remember that it was perfectly normal for Siamese women to go topless all the time it is part of Thai culture.

Beetlejuice? (planet or other) i would love to meet you as i bet your the life of the party

Thailand you are so so sad, all you care about is Money and your oh so perfect Face

[rockhardbkk]

It's ok to have Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, Patpong, Ratchada and too many massage parlors to count and yet a couple of women show their tits and the stuffy Thais in charge (the same people who frequent the MP's and who have Mia nois on the side) go ballistic about the damage to the culture. I got news for them - not many outside of Thailand view the country as a wholesome, pure country. Maybe reassessing how the world really feels about Thailand would help but I doubt it - you can't have girls everywhere selling their asses and then complain about bare breasts. It's ridiculous!

Edited April 18, 2011 by rockhardbkk

[pattayabuggy]

I watched the uncensored video and it is still out there.

This is extremely bad for the country's image around the world.

    It has the semblance of the Brits loutish behaviour in the Spanish holiday resorts.

    It is simply done in bad taste and should be kept in the bars. In fact these girls have brought the bar culture out onto the streets in full view of children and for the world to see.

    A 500 baht fine is a joke for lowering Thailand's image to rock bottom.

  I guess that the pillocks who uploaded the video onto the Internet are shiteing their pants right now and the girls claim to fame has backfired on them.

Excuse me while I throw up. Corrupt officials, a police force that is no more than a criminal gang in uniform,  jet ski scams, King Power scams, etc, etc, etc, the list is endless, yet 3 pairs of tits lower this countrys image to rock bottom, ha, ha, ha.

[StreetCowboy]

I watched the uncensored video and it is still out there.

This is extremely bad for the country's image around the world.

It has the semblance of the Brits loutish behaviour in the Spanish holiday resorts.

It is simply done in bad taste and should be kept in the bars. In fact these girls have brought the bar culture out onto the streets in full view of children and for the world to see.

A 500 baht fine is a joke for lowering Thailand's image to rock bottom.

I guess that the pillocks who uploaded the video onto the Internet are shiteing their pants right now and the girls claim to fame has backfired on them.

You are joking, i hope..........

No I am certainly not joking.

This event may seem harmless enough, but this leads to other things and sooner or later becomes more extreme.

For example, in Britain young teens and thugs have practically taken over the streets and this is exactly how it all starts if rules are relaxed.

Personally I don't want to see too many Western influences in Thailand, I love the country just the way it is.

Boundaries need to be drawn otherwise it will lead to the demise of the whole of Thai culture, just as what has happened in the UK.

I am not a prude or in anyway against this sort of thing, providing it is done at the right places, only for adults and not as a public spectacle for all and sundry.

I agree whole-heartedly. I fully support the desire to get prostitutes off the streets, and pornography, and violent weapons.

Those of us who need to, know where to go for such things, and there is no need to make them available on the streets to otherwise-innocents.

SC

I don't think anyone was suggesting these prosecutions as an alternative to enforcing laws and regulations; I am all for reducing accident rates on the roads

[HowardH]

I am so conflicted, one side of me is disgusted and wants to see an end to the morel decline of humans all over the world.

The other side of me just likes breasts mak mak , i don't really want to know about this at all.

Now where is that UTube clip? lol

[loong]

Personally I don't want to see too many Western influences in Thailand, I love the country just the way it is.

Boundaries need to be drawn otherwise it will lead to the demise of the whole of Thai culture, just as what has happened in the UK.

If it wasn't for western influence, Thai women would still consider it normal not to cover their breasts. Ot in the villages women's beast are often on show for all to see. Maybe it makes a difference that these are 60 year olds though.

[MaxYakov]

it was a lot tamer than another main songran playing soi i was in.....where there was this REALLY drunk girl dancing in the middle of the soi and a farang comes down in his car, stops and buys her bra and shorts and then takes off leaving her totally naked lol

Now, that would be some really worthwhile video! For next year, what was that Soi?

[roxnadz]

Sigh....

"It hurts the image of Thailand, in particular Silom," he said. "It distorts Songkran culture too."

Image of Silom???

Guys grabbing your arm and saying "porno DVDs, Sir?"

Touts showing you pics of fishbowl girls asking you if you want a massage.

Old gals/guys at the end of Patpong road asking you if you want sex at all hours of the day.

Patpong with it's go-gos and blow job bars.

Pirated DVDs, watches and designer goods.

Police extorting money out of tourists.

I could go on... It was only 12 months ago I had to close the office because a bunch of idiots were lobbing grenades around the place.

And 1 naked chick hurts the image of Silom? Please....

Hey, but it's not being YouTubed!

+1 on this. Much ado about nothing. The only thing I would say about this is that kids shouldn't be seeing it.

This place is beautiful...its priorities? Not so beautiful.

Edited April 18, 2011 by roxnadz

[philw]

For all of those who don't see anything wrong with this incident that took place last friday, the majority of you are probably dirty old b*tards. And here's something else to think about while these morons were "having fun", What would you think if one of those were your daughters?

If it was one of my daughters I'd applaud her................( but make sue she didn't catch a cold........)

Why not ???

[animatic]

Happens every year- the Victorian brigade come out and shriek, 'no sex, please, we're Thai!'

Has nothing to do with anything traditional in Thailand at all.

If they want to make such a big deal of it, they may find that their attempts to control the culture simply backfire and people decide to start really showing what they think of the blue-rinse set.

If they were smart they'd put up with it once a year and enjoy watching people sweat in long-sleeved shirts and ill-suited hot Western work clothing in the city the rest of the time.

Here, here. Exactly. This is not Thai culture,

but western culture turning traditional Thai culture on it's head.

No one though seeing tits was titillation until some straight backed westerner made a stink about it.

Some one in power at the time thought they lost face about it and changed things, and now

you all imagine this is Thai culture as it always was, all the art and temple wall paintings aside.

[MaxYakov]

What is the big fuss about topless girls/women the breasts are not sexual organs no more than a mans nipples

Uh, oh. Had better tell my girlfriend to stop playing with her nipples during sex. Bummer!

[MaxYakov]

I totally agree with this article. Video of the nude female body is so unfulfilling.

[ToffeEFCpower]

Hilarious

[vahack]

if it was a real problem there would be topless songkran girls on google image search.

the only topless girls at songkran are katoeys.

[TheWalkingMan]

"It hurts the image of Thailand, in particular Silom," he said. "It distorts Songkran culture too." :lol:

Thank you Thailand for providing my morning laugh. Now excuse me while I get cheated by a jet ski operator, buy a fake rolex, decline the offer to buy kiddie porn, decline the offer to touch a fake pair of boobs, accept the offer to rent a pair of real boobs, avoid the litter police, drive down the wrong side of the road, pay off the coppers to avoid seeing the inside of the jail...

All the fuss over exposed boobs...

[arrowsdawdle]

(Bangkok) - The latest forecast for inbound tourists has seen a remarkable increase in recent days and TAT reports that surveys show the upswing is caused by a recent video posted on YouTube. The video, which shows bare breasted girls dancing on a Bangkok street, had angered officials here until the reported upswing in tourist bookings. "The fines will remain in effect," one official said, "because the bar fines were not paid." TAT has ordered copies of the video for all their offices abroad.

[fatfather]

For all of those who don't see anything wrong with this incident that took place last friday, the majority of you are probably dirty old b*tards. And here's something else to think about while these morons were "having fun", What would you think if one of those were your daughters?

Ever been to a LoveParade or ChristopherStreetDay? It's on TV worldwide and it is far away from a daily happening and it doesn't have to do anything with a culture's break down, it's just one day fun. Nothing wrong with it. There are other problems to solve...

fatfather

[brahmburgers]

In Thailand, here's what gets fined:

>>> some girls smiling and dancing in public, while all the folks around were smiling and having a good time.

Here's what doesn't get fined:

>>> EGAT paying 175 million baht for a faulty 'Feasibility Report on whether Thailand should go nuclear' with a foregone conclusion - to an company which is in the business of engineering nuclear power plants.

>>> Thai authorities stacking young men like cordwood in the back of trucks (Tak Bai) - resulting in many of the men dying of aphyxiation while in custody.

>>> selling something for hundreds of millions of baht (to Singapore), and paying no taxes.

[AZBill]

I watched the uncensored video and it is still out there.

This is extremely bad for the country's image around the world.

It has the semblance of the Brits loutish behaviour in the Spanish holiday resorts.

It is simply done in bad taste and should be kept in the bars. In fact these girls have brought the bar culture out onto the streets in full view of children and for the world to see.

A 500 baht fine is a joke for lowering Thailand's image to rock bottom.

I guess that the pillocks who uploaded the video onto the Internet are shiteing their pants right now and the girls claim to fame has backfired on them.

Obviously no one here has been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans!!!!!! Who cares! Thailand's image is already that of a morally corrupt society that abuses and exploits there own woman and children, especially all the crooked politicians and police. How can it get any worse?

[skorchio]

Before Siam was subjected to Westernisation, all women, once they were married strolled about their tits out in public. Only adolescent women (with tits) up to time they were married, covered their chests. Once married, and hence breastfeeding, the puppies breathed all day long. This whole business of covering the breasts is new to Thai culture, and in fact is a reversal of the previous state of affairs. What we are seeing now is a revertion to a previous cultural norm. If there is blame to be allocated here, cast your minds back to victorian sexual repression. And for all you homos who are disgusted by this baring of breasts, I think you ought to be ashamed of yourselves: young ladies dancing topless in the streets and you closeteers are complaining? Man up, and give a cheer for the one with the biggest norks

[96tehtarp]

Does anybody know the name of the song playing in the background of that video? ... and the artist?

In many ways this has been one of the best Sonkrans ever. I can't ever remember seeing Thais have this much fun in previous years.

AFAIK the road death toll is also way down from previous years.

From my perspective, Bang Rak district chief Surakiat Limcharoen is merely doing his job by filing his complaint. He really doesn't have any choice about it. Not to lodge a complaint with the police would be to officially condone the girls behaviour. He can't do that. It's his responsibility.

Great music!

Who was it...? Does anyybody know?

[AllanB]

In my opinion, there is no problem, "seen one, youv'e seen them both" they are just having fun, not taking drugs or killing anyone. But...........

Thailand is try to lose this image of prostitution and here, for some strange reason, prostitution and nudity are considered one and the same thing. They also think that the way to crack a walnut is to use a sledgehammer, well this works well with serious offences, not so sure about this none event.

Pity really, I miss the nudity we have in Europe, but rules are rule, I guess.

[MaxYakov]

In my experience, exposed breasts on public streets is unconventional even in the sex-for-sale venues. To me, what is even more alarming is this:

Culture Watch Centre director Ladda Tangsupachai yesterday disclosed that Nipit also instructed her to officially ask the National Police Office and the ICT Ministry to ban the video clips on the Internet.

I would say that this is a slippery slope, except that Thailand has already raced to the bottom of the slope w/r internet censorship.

Edited April 18, 2011 by MaxYakov

[gregb]

For all of those who don't see anything wrong with this incident that took place last friday, the majority of you are probably dirty old b*tards. And here's something else to think about while these morons were "having fun", What would you think if one of those were your daughters?

My daughter is only 10 months old, so I doubt anyone would care. But assuming she were older and this was her, I would talk with her honestly and suggest that she exercised poor judgement. And that would be all. The reasons why these girls performed as they did is as old as time itself. They played to the crowd and got carried away. 3 topless girls hardly did serious damage to the Thai image.

Anyone who makes a big deal about this is doing it only because they are trying to repress their personal feeling of excitement about seeing these bare boobies. It is nothing more than an overreaction to the shame they feel for being stimulated, or in the case of women usually indignation that these girls are using an unfair mechanism to gain the attention of the males.

A couple years back I saw a picture of an old, female red shirt protestor exposing her breasts in front of an army truck. That did so much more damage than this to the image of Thailand, yet there was almost no media coverage of that incident at all. It wasn't titillating enough. Nobody got a tingle in their shorts from that story.

This action was 3 girls, probably drunk, who got caught up in the excitement. I've got news for everyone...I've seen women go briefly topless before at Songkran when encouraged by male admirers. This isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. The only difference is this one was filmed and shown on the news. If anyone ruined the image of Thailand, it was the media. They are the ones who should be truly penalized for exercising poor judgement.

[a99az]

Lucky BBC or the Sun daily comic, didn't pick up on it. I can just imagine the Thai government trying to suppress the news. I wonder, if they had of published, would the Thai government try to prosecute them too?