Ministry of Culture appoints celebrity deputy spokeswomen

The Ministry of Culture has appointed three actresses as deputy spokeswomen for "youth and for the children" -- Pornchita "Benz" na Songkla, Woranut "Noon" Wongsawan, and Taksaon "Aef" Paksukcharern.

Pornchita is primarily known as a singer, model and dancer, but she has acted in at least one film that I know of: playing against type as a comical maid in M.A.I.D.

Primarily known for her work in soap operas, Woranut won critical acclaim acting opposite Petchtai Wongkamlao in the wonderful Midnight My Love, playing a "masseuse" in a Bangkok massage parlor who strikes up an odd relationship with Mum Jokmok's sad-sack taxi driver. Noon was also in last year's period horror drama, Pern Maung: The Haunted Drum.

Aef was in Naresuan II, portraying the grown up Maneechan, the love interest for the Black Prince. I'm assuming she will be back for Naresuan III, due out later this year.

Bangkok Pundit notes the irony of these appointments, saying:

The Ministry of Culture is made up of "fundamental prudes" who travel the country telling people what to wear and how to act. If I was dictator for a day, one of my jobs would be send [Cultural Surveillance Center official] Ladda [Tangsupachai] and her fellow preservers of cultural identity to a deserted island or to some ivory tower and allow them to preach, but as long as they don't have power to control. Because of this, I just find the appointment of the three actresses as deputy spokeswomen as amusing. In all honesty, they are probably the three who have taken the fewest swimsuit/scantily clad shots and whose reputation is intact, but the standards which the Ministry of Culture set can't be met by anyone ...

I think this is a case of the Ministry of Culture taking a page from the book of Unesco, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Unicef and other UN agencies, which all have celebrity "Goodwill Ambassadors". It's a win-win situation for the stars, who get some positive publicity, and it adds a touch of glamour to the Ministry of Culture, which is an unpopular posting for politicians because it isn't as lucrative as say, the agriculture, commerce, tourism, transport or finance portfolios. There might not be as many contracts to award your friends, but at least you can rub shoulders with some celebrities.

Anyway, it's for the sake of the children, and, indeed, as Bangkok Pundit notes, how can anyone be against that? How? Heartless scum.

(Via Bangkok Pundit; photos, from left, Benz, Noon and Aef.)