Censorship in Thailand - Film

Film

The censorship Board continues to operate on the 1930 Film Act, where theater owners and broadcasters must submit films that they plan to show to the Film Censorship Board for review. The Board is composed of officials representing the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of University Affairs, the military, the Department of Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The board may ban films if its requirements that portions of the film be removed are not met. Reasons for censoring films include violating moral and cultural norms and disturbing the public order and national security. Theater owners and broadcasters frequently censor films themselves before submitting them to the board.

The Censorship Board initially banned the film Schindler's List because of a nude scene. However, after a furor in the press, the Board reversed its decision. According to the office of the Film Censorship Board, of the 230 films submitted for review in 2002, 1 was banned. Out of the 282 films submitted for review in 2003, 4 were banned - 3 South Korean and 1 American. Officers at the censorship board cited sexual situations and nudity as the main reasons for banning the four films.

All versions of the story of Anna Leonowens and King Mongkut (Rama IV) have been banned in Thailand, including the 1956 musical The King and I. More recently, the 1999 movie Anna and the King was also banned for "several scenes that distort history and insult the King", despite the fact that a number of changes were made to the script. Censorship Board member Thepmontri Limpayom castigated the film, saying: "The filmmakers have made King Mongkut look like a cowboy who rides on the back of an elephant as if he is in a cowboy movie. In one scene Chow Yun-fat pushes the king's crown and his portrait down to the floor—that's totally unacceptable." Another board member added: "If we cut all the scenes which we consider mock the monarchy it would only run for about 20 minutes."

More recently, Thai Christian groups protested the film The Da Vinci Code and called for it to be banned. On 16 May 2006, the Thai Censorship Committee issued a ruling that the film would be shown, but that the last 10 minutes would be cut. Also, some Thai subtitles were to be edited to change their meaning and passages from the Bible would also be quoted at the beginning and end of the film. However, the following day, Sony Pictures appealed the ruling, saying it would pull the film if the decision to cut it was not reversed. The censorship panel then voted 6-5 that the film could be shown uncut, but that a disclaimer would precede and follow the film, saying it was a work of fiction.

After controversy surrounded Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film Syndromes and a Century, the Free Thai Cinema Movement started to gain momentum in late April 2007. As a reaction to an unfavorable trip to the Censorship Board, which would not approve release in Thailand without specific cuts to be administered by the board, Apichatpong decided to cancel local release of the film. The censors, fearing that Apichatpong might show his film anyway, refused to return his print. These actions sparked a far-reaching discussion and a petition signed by artists and scholars alike and submitted to the legislative assembly of the Thai government.

As of 2007, the National Legislative Assembly was considering a proposed film ratings system, which is viewed by the film industry as even more restrictive, because in addition to a motion picture ratings system, the Board of Censors would remain in place, and would retain the power to cut or ban films.