Channel 7 executive Surang Prempree tried to play down the controversy at a press conference by saying some of the dispute was centred on "technical problems", but she admitted "sensitivity matters" were also involved.

Surang said she would not raise any objections in public and that it was not necessary for Channel 7, or Workpoint Entertainment - the producer of the soap opera - to go into detail about any possible disagreement.

"We cannot say for now when the soap opera will be aired," said Surang. "We give importance to people's feeling. We understand that Lao tradition and culture are different from ours. Let's make this a case study," she added.

At the centre of the dispute is the programme "Phleng Rak Song Fang Kong" (Love Song on the Banks of the Mekong), a love story between a young Thai and Lao couple.

Lao-Bulgarian actress Alexan-dra Bounxouay plays the beautiful Champa.

But Lao authorities were not comfortable with the fact that Champa was an "illegitimate child" in the series, as her mother had no husband.

Vientiane conveyed their concerns to the television executives through the Thai Foreign Ministry last week that the soap opera contained many scenes deemed inappropriate and contradictory to Lao culture, said Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy.

"The Lao Ministry of Informa-tion and Culture has seen a sample of the series and believes it could damage to Lao norms and traditional culture," Yong said in a telephone interview.

"It's against Lao culture to have a child outside of marriage," added an official at the Lao Embassy in Bangkok. "Thais might be okay with it, but not Lao."

Champa plays a tourist guide who becomes romantically involved with a young Thai man. The relationship develops quickly. Appa-rently, a little too quickly. "It's misleading that a Lao woman could be such an easy woman," he said.

The dialogue used in the series is also a dialect that no Lao community uses, as many Thai stars, including Sukolwat Kanaros, are unable to speak Lao properly and fluently, he said.

"So if you cannot speak Lao, you shouldn't pretend you can and then speak in such an ugly accent," said the official.

Another scene considered humiliating to Laos occurs when Champa throws a white frangipani - the national flower of Laos - into a dustbin.

"You might get angry with your boyfriend who hands you the flower, but the national flower should not be thrown away in that manner," he said.

"Why didn't the producer use a rose or something else, rather than our national flower?" he asked.

At yesterday's press conference, the director of the soap opera, Thongchai Prasongsanti, declined to speak to reporters.

Thai television has a considerable influence over Lao audiences, because people on the other side of the Mekong River can easily access Thai networks and enjoy most of the programmes.

However, culture clashes between the two neighbours, who share many similarities, are always popping up in the media. The most recent was last year, when Laos was angry over the Thai comedy film "Makteh" ("Soccer"), which portrayed the Lao national soccer team in a joking manner.

Sareeporn Laovanitchaya,

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation