BANGKOK – As part of its reform of media in Thailand, the government today announced new rules governing acceptable content in original television programming, including the new limit of three rapes for each one-hour episode of domestically produced “lakorns” or soap operas.
The announcement was made by Minister of Culture Nipit Intarasombut, whose office drafted the new rules for the government.
“Our Kingdom is facing more and more threats than ever before,” Nipit said, citing video games, teenage kissing, Western fast food, and the proliferation of non-Thai nicknames as the main sources of Thailand’s cultural and moral decline. “It is thus important to control what our citizens watch and accept as normal civilized behavior. Four or more rapes per hour is too much.”
Under the new guidelines, soap operas may only portray three acts of violent, forced sex per hour, regardless if the same woman is raped twice, or even if the woman clearly deserved it. Violations will result in fines of up to ฿100,000.
A number of television producers have publicly objected to the law, claiming that it infringes on their artistic freedom.
“It’s shocking that the same ministry that’s supposed to protect Thai culture is now attacking it,” said Meepon Rangmit, a producer for Channel 3. “All the greatest lakorn in Thai history are rape-driven. ‘Dao Pra Sook’, ‘Susan Khon Pen’, ‘Nang Tard’ – how can we tell these classic Thai tales without raping every female character freely? It’s censorship at its worst.”
Many of Thailand’s top lakorn actors echoed the sentiment, including the highly-awarded Suvanant Konying. “My entire career is based on being raped on TV over and over again,” she said. “These new laws are, frankly, undignified.”
Channel 7’s director of programming even went so far as to accuse the government of causing economic hardship, citing the changes that would have to be made to a current production of “Kaew Tah Pee.”
“We’ll have to rewrite, reshoot, redo everything,” said Jitraporn Worradej. “A Thai soap opera without rape is like a crime story without guns.”
Despite the outcry, Nipit remains adamant that the new laws are necessary and that Thailand’s best artistic minds should be able to work within what he calls “reasonable boundaries.”
“We are clearly not removing rapes from soap operas, or from prime time TV, or from the public mindset as an accepted and normal part of a Thai woman’s life,” he said. “That would be absurd.”
