Poj Arnon makes a movie out of the abortion scandal

Opportunistic showman Poj Arnon seizes upon last November's aborted fetuses scandal for his latest ripped-from-the-headlines movie, Dek Phee Du 2002 Sop (เด็กผีดุ 2002 ศพ, 2002: The Unborn Child.

The scandal erupted at the discovery of illegally aborted fetuses at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok. First a few hundred were found, but the number grew to more than 2,000. Undertakers had stored the fetuses there for cremation, but the temple's crematorium broke down, and the resulting stench had neighbors complaining.

Rescue teams pulled the fetuses out of the numbered compartments at the temple, bagged them up and laid them out on the ground for newspaper photographers and TV cameramen to capture. The sea of little corpses made for compelling photos. Similar images are used in Poj's movie.

The discovery of the fetuses resulted in a crackdown on illegal abortion clinics and gave rise to much discussion about Thailand's abortion laws.

On what side of the issue does Dek Phee Du 2002 Sop stand? Like most Thai horror movies, I supposed it comes down to karma.

Somchai Kemklad stars in the movie. He plays a crime reporter, married to a high-school teacher, portrayed by "May" Pitchanart Sakakorn. The happy couple have a young daughter, and the little girl starts seeing ghostly little playmates, which are apparently tied to an abortion had by one of the teacher's students. Soon their lives become a living hell.

See what it's all about in the trailer, embedded below. Dek Phee Du 2002 Sop is in Thai cinemas on Thursday.