Foreign breasts yes, Thai breasts no

As the film industry continues its renewed push for modernization of Thailand's film oversight, filmmakers decried a double standard in censorship standards, saying Thai films are more rigorously censored than Hollywood films.

"The question is why foreign films are not censored. People have said Thai breasts are not approved of but foreign breasts are," Visute Poolvoralaks, owner of film production company Tai Entertainment Co, was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post.

Director Manop Udomdej said censoring committees banned pornographic scenes while approving violent and bloody ones.

The comments came at a public hearing on Monday in parliament in preparation for a new bill governing the film industry.

Director Bandit Rittakol (The Moonhunter, Tigress at King River), president of the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, said the censorship system was substandard and inconsistent. (Good) movies had been censored when they should not have been while surprisingly bad movies had passed censorship, he said.

"State agencies ask staff who have nothing else to do to watch and censor movies. They do not use the officials who have expertise and understand the arts.''

Bandit seeks a new regulating body that would include both government officials and representatives from the film industry and provide a supportive role, rather than a controlling one.

Paichit Supawaree, former president of the movie federation, pointed out more inconsistencies, saying the government strictly censored ordinary movies while ignoring underground pornographic CDs and movies screened in second-class theatres which existed thanks to bribes. (Hey, where are these places?)

Culture Minister Anurak Jureemat said public hearings on a new movie bill would be completed in two months. The bill would replace several outdated film laws, some going back 74 years.

That's the news. Now the comment. I have no problem with modernization of film oversight. It's a system that is long overdue for the scrap heap. A ratings system has been mentioned before and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Thailand has no movie ratings system right now. Having one in place would at least give filmmakers a guideline. Right now, they have nothing. They just make their films - some good, most shit - and hope for the best.

But I am wary of these moves and the concerns of these industry representatives. First, I worry all this talk might result in more rigorous censorship of foreign films, or at the extreme end of things, the outright ban of foreign films. Such extremism isn't unheard of in other places. In the short term, I wonder if Bandit's comments will simply make the censors angry and they'll get more busy with the scissors and Vaseline as a result.

Second, I am concerned that the proposed regulatory body would give independent filmmakers the short shrift and their creative efforts (and funding) stifled. Certainly the above mentioned underground porno industry exists, but I wonder if this isn't really this industry group's code for "independent film"?