Sunday Times 2
Thailand reacts with outrage to US comedy show
View(s):By Emily Payne
A US comedy skit that makes fun of Thailand’s sex industry has enraged the Thailand government, the country’s culture minister has said – adding that officials are now trying to block the video.
The short sketch, which appeared on the Saturday Night Live TV show, is a parody of an advertisement for a Thai-language course by the Rosetta Stone company.
It shows men learning phrases that might apply to some of the seamier areas of Thailand’s nightlife zones, and jokes: ‘With Rosetta Stone Thai you can learn great conversational phrases like “Is that for the whole night?”, “Oh my god! what I have I done?” and “ping pong ball”.’
One man is even shown surreptitiously learning Thai while his wife is asleep in bed.
Bangkok beat: Thai officials said that the skit misrepresents the country
But Thailand’s Culture Minister Sonthaya Kunploem is not amused.
‘The sketch misrepresents Thailand and its people,’ Sonthaya says.
‘We are working with the Foreign Ministry to let the US know it is offensive, and we have asked our information ministry to remove the clip.’
Predominantly a Buddhist country, Thailand is deeply conservative despite the notoriety of its sex industry – and its censors often target nudity on television and in print. Prostitution, though widespread, is illegal.
In the comedy skit, one embarrassed character insists that he is learning Thai for business, only to hide his head in shame.
The comedy show on the NBC network was greeted with much criticism on internet forums.
© Daily Mail, London
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