Thailand Bans Film About Thai-Cambodian Border Row

[SteeleJoe]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Examples to back up your claim please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_films

Not so difficult, huh?

Did you even read that list? If so I can only find it comical that you present that as supportive of the premise - were you joking, perchance?

[allalong]

When I went to school in the UK we were taught about the British Empire and its occupation of foreign soil,along with its human rights violations.Even if you werent taught it was widely shown in the media.None of that in Thailand;let alone free thinking by its students in higher education

Sent from my GT-S7500L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited April 24, 2013 by allalong

[DocN]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Examples to back up your claim please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_films

Not so difficult, huh?

Did you even read that list? If so I can only find it comical that you present that as supportive of the premise - were you joking, perchance?

I also must have missed the memo, that said Argentina, Nigeria, China, Buthan and Nazi- Germany joined "our beloved West"...

[Lingba]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Very well said

[EyesWideOpen]

Tried to find it as a torrent file on Pirate Bay. Not there yet...

If Thailand wants true censorship, they are going to have to shut

down the internet here... :-)

[MaxLee]

Tried to find it as a torrent file on Pirate Bay. Not there yet...

If Thailand wants true censorship, they are going to have to shut

down the internet here... :-)

Psssssssst,.... they might actually really do it...

[thomash]

Smart move by Thailand now even more people are going to be interested in watching the film wondering what Thailand is trying to conceal.

[SteeleJoe]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Very well said

Hmmm...can something be well said when it is a verifiable fallacy?

I suppose. Even a lie can be well phrased.

[webfact]

Censors ban film on Thai-Cambodia border spat

BANGKOK, April 24, 2013 (AFP) - Thai censors have banned a documentary about a festering border row with Cambodia saying it may jeopardise national security if screened in the kingdom, a culture ministry official said Wednesday.

"Boundary" explores the lives of people caught up in conflict in the area near the Preah Vihear temple, a flashpoint zone where sovereignty is currently under consideration by the UN's highest court.

It also shows scenes from Thailand's febrile recent history including a bloody crackdown on "Red Shirt" protesters in the heart of Bangkok in 2010.

Censors banned the documentary because "its content could cause a rift in international relations", an official at the culture ministry's video and film office told AFP.

The film could "cause disunity among Thais and jeopardise national security", he said, requesting anonymity.

Filmmaker Nontawat Numbenchapol vowed to appeal the ruling in a bid to have his documentary -- which made its screen debut in Europe -- shown in his home country.

"I'm very surprised my film was banned," he told AFP. "I'm preparing to lodge an appeal so it can be shown here."

Thailand does not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has seen deadly clashes along their joint border.

But both sides claim an adjacent 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) patch of land.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) completed hearings last week after Cambodia asked for an interpretation of the 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear temple area.

A verdict from the ICJ, which judges disputes between states, is not expected for several months.

Thailand's bitter internal political divisions have led to other allegations of censorship, with a prime-time Thai soap opera axed suddenly this year amid accusations of government interference.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-04-24

[retell]

Tried to find it as a torrent file on Pirate Bay. Not there yet...

If Thailand wants true censorship, they are going to have to shut

down the internet here... :-)

Psssssssst,.... they might actually really do it...

wait a few days then search again better luck then ,, only the version with subs shall be harder to find

[bigbamboo]

It seems that any movie or even TV show which doesn't show Thailand as a nation of smiley, happy temple thronging culture lovers is banned or cut to ribbons.

Even China has moved further on in the censorship stakes.

[Jingthing]

It is not always true that when a film is banned in Thailand, that it helps the film or helps its viewership on torrents.

Here is an example:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/24/thailand-bans-film-about-transgender-father.html

As far as I know this banned in Thailand art film was not only never released in Thailand or any country but not even available on torrents.

It seems to me this ban basically KILLED this worthy film. In my book, that's a crying shame.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Jingthing

[A Member]

A great inspiration to the world famous Thai documentary film industry ...

If the ICJ finds for Thailand will they produce a film on the great victory and if the court finds in favour of Cambodia will it be a Hollywood style Vietnam war epic that " while we lost we actually won " ?

[Ben9]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Yeah...ahm...care to share with me, what kind of documentary or movie you know about, that was banned like this in "our beloved west"? And...no...movies denying the Holocaust don't Count

Yes there has been, such as Conspiracy of silence, banned for blowing the lid on a child sex ring that lead all the way to the top of the government in the U.S..Not only was it banned but all copies destroyed, the one on youtube is made up of cuts to the original...One of the girls who was raped and tortured got sentenced to 30 years in jail, longer than her attacker got for embezzling 40 million dollars a few years later...sorry if thats going off topic

[WhizBang]

 

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Examples to back up your claim please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_films

Not so difficult, huh?

Assuming you are referencing what is/was banned in America, there is nothing of any real substance to your list. All recent bans (the last 30 years) are on the list for religous or legal reasons, and none of the bans were country wide. Just blocked temporarily in certain states or counties.

Nothing even close to the same stupidity the ministry of culture is embarking on with banning this film in Thailand. Perhaps, there is a tad too much truth in the film. Heaven forbid the masses should become enlightened.

[WhizBang]

Tried to find it as a torrent file on Pirate Bay. Not there yet...

If Thailand wants true censorship, they are going to have to shut

down the internet here... :-)

Shush. Don't give them any ideas.

[upena]

Minister of Foreign Affairs just guaranteed that the movie will be a hit.

[EyesWideOpen]

It seems to me that if Thailand persists in this silly banning, the director can have the last laugh by simply putting the film up on torrent sites himself. What an insult this ban is to Thai people. The Culture ministry's assumption being that Thai people do not sufficient intelligence to observe an event and come up with their own conclusions.... If indeed there were significant factual errors in the film, the government could certainly issue a press release correcting those errors.

To me this entire temple issue is classic " wag the dog", where each side is using conflict to their own agenda, which is mostly to whip up nationalism. So I can certainly see why the Thai government would not want this exposed. I have been up to the temple from the Cambodian side. It is interesting, but if you were standing on the ruins, you would certainly not think it was worth going to war over...

[pacovl46]

This is a true democracy, don't pretend our beloved west is any different. It's just in Thailand they are less intelligent at lying.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy!

[lungmi]

Thailand is castrating himself. Good place for the non-castrated, the documentary shows a way.

[Jim walker]

I suppose you don’t want brainwashed and indoctrinated people getting the wrong idea by watching a film it could all land in complete confusion for them.

[brfsa2]

I wanna watch it! any torrents available? couldn't find any.

[rubberduck]

Censorship at its best, never let the people know what is really happening. Every country that was in attendance at the film festival in Berlin now knows what is happening and what has happened in the area surrounding the disputed temple, in other words the whole world knows, but the Thai people are not allowed to know!

Government keeps them poor and the church keeps them stupid, the succesful worldwide old way of 'crowdcontrol', smoking of 'mind-liberating' plants strictly prohibited etc.

Edited April 24, 2013 by rubberduck

[thhMan]

Nothing will change in Thailand until some of the old junk is thrown out.

Lets just hope the new generation of Thais are wiser than these misinformed coconuts

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[hellodolly]

Seems a good time for those who say they've left their home "nanny state" country to live in Thailand to have a good think about what a real "nanny state" is

Sorry I don't understand what you are trying to say here. One film that probably makes Thailand look bad being banned is hardly what I would call a Nanny country. I lived in the states for 30 years and Canada for 34 years and Thailand is only a shadow of being a Nanny state compared to them. I have been here 7 years so I have a good idea of how unnanny it is but then again as my history shows I know what a nanny state is.

Now you may not agree or like some of the things they do. I know I do but that does not make Thailand a Nanny state. Go through the list of banned films if that is what you want to use as your criteria. You will find out that China makes Thailand look like one of the most freest countries in the world.

What got me was how true the following paragraph from the article was.

""The information I present in my film has been gathered from my

first-hand experience in actual locations of the on-going Thai-Cambodian

border conflicts. It presents the viewpoints of the residents in the

border areas who feel direct impact of the Preah Vihear spats. One of my

intentions is to let the film be a space for the people in the troubled

territories to voice their views, opinions and feelings that they

haven't had a chance to do so in the media report on the issue," he

wrote."

As I said on another thread I wonder what the people who live there would have to say about it if it had not become such a political thing.

Give them three choices,

1 Thailand

2 Cambodia

3 Who cares

Some how the banning of the people who live there leads me to believe choice #3 was the one they would have made if they had been asked at the onset.

I could be wrong

[hellodolly]

When I went to school in the UK we were taught about the British Empire and its occupation of foreign soil,along with its human rights violations.Even if you werent taught it was widely shown in the media.None of that in Thailand;let alone free thinking by its students in higher education

Sent from my GT-S7500L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not sure what you are saying here. My education was in The U S and we were taught all about Britain raping many different countries. They tried that with us and got thrown out on their ear.

But I see no point in trying to compare Thailand's education system to Britons or the States Why don't you throw Somalia into the mixture. Apples and Oranges

It has nothing to do with Thailand blocking a film that probably makes them look bad.

Sent using my desktop HP machine on Thai Vista.

[surangw]

great advertising, now google will get a workout looking for it.

[Thai at Heart]

It seems that any movie or even TV show which doesn't show Thailand as a nation of smiley, happy temple thronging culture lovers is banned or cut to ribbons.

Even China has moved further on in the censorship stakes.

Maybe they thought hangover 2 was a documentary.

[Locationthailand]

Portrayal of truth is censored because it does not suit 5 individuals?