Gay sex on film? No problem. Baring political rifts, problem.
Live and let live in Thailand. Except when one gay man is Buddhist, and the other is Muslim.
BANGKOK, Thailand — The gay sex scene alone would be enough to ban “This Area Is Under Quarantine” in many countries.
Filmed in a Bangkok hotel room, the scene offers lots of out-of-focus flesh, lots of fast breathing, lots of hands pawing at tighty whiteys.
But that’s not why Thailand’s Ministry of Culture banned the film, said 37-year-old director Thunska Pansittivorakul. His film was censored, he said, for baring the kingdom’s political rifts and showing raw footage of Thai soldiers detaining Muslims.
“The culture ministry told me it threatens the security of our nation,” Thunska said. “So they banned it.”
Thailand is well-known for its live-and-let-live attitude toward homosexuality and transsexuals. As long as films depicting gay erotic couplings don’t veer too close to pornography — i.e., penetration or full display of sex organs — they’re tolerated as well as any movie with heterosexual erotic scenes.
But politics here remain raw as ever. An urban-rural class divide has played out in roaring street protests. Regions remain at political odds. And Muslim separatists continue a bombing and beheading campaign in Thailand’s deep south.
 |
| A promotional poster for the banned film. (Courtesy of Thunska Pansittivorakul) |
In “Quarantine,” Thunska attempts to fuse the country’s varied tensions in back-to-back scenes. He pairs up two men, one from the insurgency-torn deep south and another from a poor rice-farming Northeast region.
One man is Buddhist, one is Muslim and both are gay. Before they become intimate, the film presents footage from the “Tak Bai” incident, a 2004 military crackdown on Muslim protesters. More than 80 men, detained and piled into the back of an army truck, died from suffocation in the heat.
Footage of the raid was circulated widely on YouTube and disseminated via CD to galvanize Muslims in southern Thailand against the government.
“It compares between violence the government has showered on the people and the intensity of the sex scene,” Thunksa said. “But the Tak Bai footage is something anyone could find on YouTube.”
Before it was submitted for government review, “Quarantine” was secretly shown five times in Thailand and publicly at the “International Film Festival Rotterdam.” Thunksa produced the film for less than $6,000, he said.
“The sex scene is quite erotic, because the camera is constantly moving and it’s cut very fast, so the effect is like a montage,” said Matthew Hunt, a cinephile and blogger in Bangkok who saw the film at a private screening.
Recent on Thailand :
Silicon Sweatshops: A promising model
Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 18, 2009 06:54 ET
There's no easy way to police supply chains in Asia. But one US high-tech firm and its Taiwan supplier are taking a creative approach that might just work.
Special report: Silicon Sweatshops
Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:05 ET
Despite strict "codes of conduct," labor rights violations are the norm at factories making the world's favorite high-tech gadgets.
.jpg)
What do you think about Silicon Sweatshops?
News Desk - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:04 ET
Are high-tech supply chains in Asia good business or exploitation? You decide.
Silicon Sweatshops: Shattered dreams
Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:24 ET
Migrant workers making gadgets at Taiwan's high-tech parks sign deals that make them modern-day indentured servants.
Silicon Sweatshops: The China connection
Kathleen E. McLaughlin and Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET
For migrant workers, an electronics factory job can be a ticket into China's booming middle class. But for many, it turns into a nightmare of poor working conditions and indifferent bosses.
Silicon Sweatshops: Disposable workforce
Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET
Laid-off Taiwanese workers accuse their firm of violating industry codes even when times were good.
Gay sex on film? No problem. Baring political rifts, problem.
Patrick Winn - Thailand - November 8, 2009 11:02 ET
Live and let live in Thailand. Except when one gay man is Buddhist, and the other is Muslim.
Tweeting from Fugitiveland
Patrick Winn - Thailand - November 2, 2009 06:35 ET
Thailand's ex-premier is on the run. And he wants the Twitterati to know about it.
Child sex boom fueled by poverty
Deena Guzder - Thailand - October 29, 2009 11:24 ET
It's just another dark day in Thailand.
Fake Viagra, and more, in Bangkok
Patrick Winn - Thailand - October 23, 2009 08:54 ET
Pharmo-piracy sweeps Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. It's a deadly problem.
.jpg)
A World of Trouble: Is the nightmare over?
Thomas Mucha - Commerce - October 14, 2009 13:35 ET
With signs of economic recovery finally emerging, here's where things stand in 20 countries around the world.
On Location: Bangkok — Heal Thailand with love
Patrick Winn and Pailin Wedel - Thailand - October 14, 2009 11:20 ET
Why this face frightens the average Thai
Patrick Winn - Thailand - October 10, 2009 09:05 ET
Thais have a fear of illegal immigrants that parallels that of Americans. The UN wants to change that.
Thailand's country music megastar
Patrick Winn - Thailand - September 22, 2009 08:58 ET
Paper airplane, or paper tiger?
Patrick Winn - Thailand - September 12, 2009 07:28 ET
Meet Mong Thongdee, a 12-year-old "security threat" in Thailand.
News analysis: Malaysian model drinks beer, asks to be caned
Thomas Mucha - Commerce - August 24, 2009 06:25 ET
The wacky story of the week comes from, where else, Asia?
The great elephant exodus
Patrick Winn - Thailand - August 15, 2009 13:53 ET
Video: Bangkok's governor promises an elephant-free city by next summer. Fat chance?
Meet the economic gangsters
Mark Scheffler - Commerce - August 12, 2009 09:03 ET
Economic gangsters come in all shapes and sizes — they're Asian dictators and Somali pirates.
Doing business in Thailand? Please ignore the burning bus.
Patrick Winn - Thailand - August 7, 2009 07:23 ET
Thailand is more competitive than India or South Korea. Will anyone notice through the haze of protests?
Watch GlobalPost videos:
Reporter's Notebook
Most journalists I know hate the word "dialogue." Mostly because it's a favorite of uncooperative or boring interviewees. You ask a...Read more >
Discovered in a Northeast Thai town so tiny it's not on the map: a bar with the most confounding name ever. Oh! Bar Mark: Chill Restaurant I'm...Read more >
Journalists on assignment in Bangkok often turn out amazing prose. It's a glittering, messy and alluring city that tends to inspire. Trouble is,...Read more >
Featured: Special Projects
After the Fall:
20 years since the Berlin Wall came down
Life, Death and the Taliban:
Videos and stories
Study Abroad:
Students report from the road
Living in the Shadows:
An intimate look at China's migrant workers
A World of Trouble:
The global economy in 20 hotspots
Global Blogs:
Comments:
1 Comments.
Login or Register to post comments