Published on December 31, 2005

The government hopes to give youngsters a special present next Children’s Day. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra wants to give Thai children a “rating system” on January 14, according to Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the Culture Ministry’s Cultural Surveillance Centre. There have been attempts to enact legislation to institute a rating system for more than 30 years, but the current administration sees it as imperative to act quickly.

“The government has realised and is concerned by problems among youth caused by the imitation of inappropriate behaviour in unrated media,” Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong told a brainstorming seminar at the Chulabhorn Research Institute on Thursday.

The seminar, titled “From Rating to Film-making Fund: The Road to Creative Media in Thailand”, was the first time the Culture Ministry had organised a meeting specially to discuss a national rating system.

The rating system is to apply to “motion pictures” only, which covers film, television dramas and commercials, but not news.

More than 500 people from educational institutions, film and entertainment businesses, government and the general public attended the seminar and shared their thoughts on what the rating system should entail.

The rating systems of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada were used as case studies at the seminar, but the Thai system will be different, according to Ladda.

“Our culture is different from those of western countries. We can’t just take and use their systems,” she said. “We can take examples from them, but have to come up with our own system.”

Among the mostly older audience was 18-year-old Krittaya Boonthai, a representative from the Bangkok Metropolitan Youth Council.

“I’m glad we are going to have a rating system. But as a member of Thailand’s youth, I say youngsters too want to be part of [setting up] this system, which will mostly decide what is proper and improper for us,” said Krittaya.

In the absence of a rating system, free-to-air television stations and the country’s sole cable TV operator have set up in-house censorship teams.

Censorship of films used to be the responsibility of the Royal Thai Police, but this duty has now has been shifted to the Culture Ministry.

Ladda said there would be no more butchering of films screened in theatres or released on DVD or VCD once the rating system is implemented. Instead of deleting scenes with inappropriate content, each film will be given a rating to indicate the content and appropriate audience.

Kreangsak Suwanpantakul

The Nation

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