Watch this: Kissing in Public

Embedded above is Kissing in Public, a short film done by Anocha Suwichakornpong and her crew at Electric Eel Films.

It was posted to what appears to be a semi-official YouTube channel nearly two years ago. Hopefully it'll be okay to embed here now.

Although it's from 2009, it seems relevant today, given the controversy over the trailer for Love Julinsee, a sweet-looking teen romance that got Thai censors all hot and bothered. They apparently think kids who watch the trailer will immediately go out and copy the moves. They start out kissing, and who knows what that will lead to.

In the trailer, the editors coyly cut away at the last moment so that the offending smooches aren't actually shown, but the censors want them cut anyway.

Anocha's film has full-on snogging, in public, by same-sex couples. They are in the streets, outside the shopping mall, in Chinatown and at the railway terminal. A few passersby stop and wonder. But no one's giving the smoochers a hairy eyeball. It seems like hardly anyone cares, despite that, from what I've been led to understand, public displays of affection are generally frowned upon in Thai society.

There can be hand holding by young same-sex pairs, generally just friends, passing the time of day as they walk on the footpath. But not by romantic couples, and definitely no hugging or kissing.

Thailand is a weird place that's full of confusing contradictions. Society is conservative. Courtship and marriage rituals are highly formalized. Yet there are go-go clubs, massage parlors and other venues for prostitution, even though prostitution is illegal.

And now there are people making films, in public, with people kissing. What will that lead to?

(Via Limitless Cinema)