
Producers of television soap operas voiced objections yesterday to a stringent plan to restrict what TV viewers can watch during specific times of the day.
If the plan goes ahead, most soap operas on air would struggle to find a place in the new TV schedules. For a "Chor" category, which many soap operas will fall into, the plan requires they be broadcast between 10pm and 4am only.
Some serials may be a "Nor" category, but they would be allowed on air only from 9am to 4pm on weekdays (Monday to Friday) and between 8pm and 5am on weekends and holidays.
The Nor category also limits programmes to just one or two scenes in each episode with violence, sex or incorrect grammar.
"That means we are going to change virtually everything in a TV series," famous producer Thakolkiat Viravan said yesterday.
In his interpretation, TV drama will no longer be able to show scenes in which a villain is killed. And heroines will not be able to meet the hero in front of a pub, as a pub is considered a bad place.
"Most TV series have a scene when a villain dies because he's a bad guy, but this plan goes deep into the detail. If there's a death scene, the rating is Nor," Thakolkiat said.
He also pointed out that many dramas were based on novels and this meant the adaptation must start from scripts.
Thakolkiat said he supported the rating system, which would help TV watchers know what was appropriate for them. But he was totally against the airtime conditions. "TV is not a medium for children only. It's for everyone," he said.
Relevant authorities have drawn up the plan hoping that more airtime will be allocated for children's TV shows.
Jamnan Siritan, president of a TV production group, believed those who drafted the plan had no idea of the nature of TV operations.
"If the plan is implemented, every TV station is going to provide similar content in practice and each TV station is going to lose its character," she said.
Public Relations Department director-general Pramoj Ratavinij convened a meeting with entrepreneurs in the TV business yesterday. He said the meeting was intended to gather opinions, which would then be forwarded to PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan by tomorrow.
Dhipvadee is due to meet with the Directing Board for the Broadcast Division on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham, who is also social development and human security minister, will chair the meeting.
Pramoj said he would consult Dhipavadee about a question from Channel 3 on how to rate the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon. Although the cartoon is clearly created for children, it contains a lot of fight scenes.
Mayuree
Sukyingcharoenwong
The Nation