The
offbeat travel book Bangkok Inside Out has
been banned in Thailand after the director of Cultural Monitoring at the Thai
Ministry of Culture, Ladda Tangsuphachai, said that it tainted the image of the
country. The ban follows a front-page story in the large-circulation
Kom Chad Luk, which said that the book ''discusses negative subjects such as
fake goods, gambling, gay performances, touts and scams, and places such as
Patpong, Nana, and Khaosan Road''.
Oh no! Terrible, just terrible...
The Kom Chad Luk broke new grounds in journalism in early 2004 when it featured a front-page photograph of a glazed-eyed man holding a dead chicken, accompanied by a story on how the chicken had been ''raped'' and then strangled by the man. Apparently that article did not taint Thailand's image or people, although some chickens were no longer held in high regard.
Authors respond to the recent banning in Thailand of their book: "We are surprised and deeply saddened by the sudden focus in the Thai press and by the Thai Ministry of Culture on our book, Bangkok Inside Out. For the past 10 months it has sat prominently on the shelves of bookshops across Thailand and overseas, has sold briskly and has earned rave reviews from numerous respected publications such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and Thailand's The Nation and Bangkok Post. On November 22, Thailand's prominent daily newspaper Kom Chad Luek ran a front page story quoting a senior Thai government official, Ms Ladda Tangsuphachai, Director of Cultural Monitoring at the Thai Ministry of Culture, alleging that Bangkok Inside Out taints the image of Thailand and its people. The article states that our book "discusses negative subjects such as fake goods, gambling, gay performances, touts and scams, and places such as Patpong, Nana, and Khaosan Road," and singles out a photograph that shows a bar girl on a farang's (foreigner's) lap. Ms Ladda is quoted as saying that "According to the Constitution, the press has freedom to publish. So, all we can do is to take the problematic books off the shelf." Ms Ladda submitted our book to the Royal Thai Police for further investigation and has asked them to consider whether there is a case for legal action against us. Kom Chad Luek has continued running follow-up stories on our book and on "critical foreigners" in general. Meanwhile, Bangkok Inside Out has de facto been banned in Thailand, yet we have not received any notice from the authorities to this effect.
"Asia Books and Bookazine, the two largest English-language book chains in Thailand, have removed our books from their shelves after being informed that anyone caught selling our book was subject to a fine and/or imprisonment. Bangkok Inside Out has clearly been misunderstood. It oozes enthusiasm for Bangkok and Thailand, and repeatedly encourages readers to visit and explore the city. It depicts Bangkok as a hip, trendy place that has shed much of its seedier side and become far more attractive and cosmopolitan than most other travel books suggest.
"What mystifies us is that bookshops in Thailand are packed with publications devoted in their entirety to bar girls and prostitution. Our book -for all its humor and playful banter -is consistently respectful and thoughtful towards the Thai people and their culture, and written out of almost unconditional admiration. Our book actually criticizes and mocks foreigners who glamorize Thailand's sex industry, and repeatedly makes the point that there is far more to Thailand than the negative stereotypes so often used by others. The book also includes many sections on traditional topics like alms giving, fortunetelling, amulets, traditional markets, dining, Lumpini Park, the Sky Train, and shopping. As journalists who take their trade and their subject - Bangkok -seriously, we saw fit to also address everyday urban phenomena like pollution, street dogs, gambling and piracy. All of these topics, for better or for worse, are realistic parts of Bangkok's landscape, and do not reflect in any negative way on the Thai people or on Thai culture.
Despite the criticism directed at our book, we, as writers and as individuals, are quite the opposite of culturally insensitive foreigners. We both hold Masters Degrees in Southeast Asian Studies and Languages from one of the top universities in this field, are fluent in Thai and Indonesian, and have devoted much of our careers so far to understanding and documenting life in Thailand and Southeast Asia. We've often felt, through our work, like unofficial cultural ambassadors for Thailand, and have always harbored a deep respect for Thailand and its people. We regret that Bangkok Inside Out been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and we sincerely apologize for any offense inadvertently caused to anyone in Thailand due to different interpretations of the book's contents. Nevertheless, we stand by the concept, editorial style and content of Bangkok Inside Out, and consider it to be a fair and very enthusiastic tribute to Thailand's wonderful capital city. We kindly ask the Thai Ministry of Culture to formally advise us about specific sections of our book that they consider direct insults to Thai culture or the Thai people, so that we can understand their concerns and consider revising such sections for subsequent editions. Meanwhile, we respectfully request the Thai government to allow the sale of our book in Thailand, and to ensure that bookshops in Thailand cease to be discouraged, officially or otherwise, from carrying Bangkok Inside Out. We'd also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our many Thai friends, journalists, businessmen, academics, students and neighbors -who have expressed their strong support for us and for our book. Daniel Ziv & Guy Sharett Authors, Bangkok Inside Out ."