The Culture Ministry will provide an office with 99 officials to help the Film Censor Committee, Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch said.
The censor panel screens films for rent, distribution and public screening in Thailand. Without its approval, local films cannot be exported either.
Teera said the Cabinet had already approved the establishment of the Film Censor Office, and had also given the green light to the plan to upgrade the Culture Watch Group under the ministry’s Office of Policies and Strategies.
The Culture Watch Group usually has just eight officials, but now it would have 28 officials, Teera said.
Why is it still called "censor panel" and not "ratings panel"? The old censorship habit is a hard one to kick.
I also have to be concerned about films not being available for export. Between this, the lack of English subtitles on DVDs, and wrong-headed attempts at films designed for export, Thailand is doing everything it can to undermine a film industry that struggles to break even within a local market, or at best, a pan-Asian market. No matter what is said, those in charge have not really understood what is being done right in Korea or Taiwan, where the artistic and politically challenging filmmakers still receive support, and have films that are internationally available.
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