A monk playing the guitar; that can't go through the bracket

Doctors are not allowed to drink whiskey in Thailand. How so? Are they drinking whiskey while pulling out an appendix? Or do they have a glass of whiskey in their hand during their daily walk through the infirmaries? No, the whiskey bottle sometimes comes to the table after work while they discuss the day's cases of illness.

This scene in the movie Saeng Sattawat (Syndromes and a Century) by filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul could not pass the film censorship. The scene suggested that the medical profession in Thailand consists of a bunch of drunks. The film never made it to the cinema.

In his weekly (much too long) column in Brunch, the Sunday supplement of Bangkok Post, Australian Andrew Biggs lists four TV series and films that were killed in the past because they were not considered suitable for the delicate Thai souls. You can guess why he devotes his column to this, because a week ago the soap opera became Nua Mak 2 (Beyond the Cloud, or Beyond Comparison) from the tube. This led to quite a bit of commotion, even in parliament. According to Channel 3, which pulled the plug, the remaining episodes contained too much violence. Yes, you have to think of something, if the real reason was (presumably) political pressure.

In addition to scenes with doctors, scenes with monks, flight attendants, cops and politicians are also sensitive. Let's list them:

1 In the soap opera Sarawat (The Police Inspector) encounters an honest cop who discovers that some of his colleagues are corrupt. He refuses to join them. After six episodes, the series was pulled from the tube.

2 Doctors in a rural hospital discuss the day's illnesses over a glass of whiskey (see beginning).

3 In the TV series Songkhram Nang Fah (War of Angels) flight attendants chase pilots. Real flight attendants protested; they said they had other things to do than lure a beautiful unmarried captain into the marriage bed. Removed from the tube.

4 A Buddhist monk plays the guitar and a young monk plays with a radio-controlled model plane or helicopter, I don't know. Wrong lot! Apichatpong of the whiskey-lurking doctors was also responsible for this. The scene had to be cut, but Apichatpong refused. So no white screen for the film.

5 Nua Mek 2, which began on December 14, followed a prime minister, his criminal deputy prime minister and a sorcerer who influenced the political power game through black rituals. The story was about corrupt practices in a satellite deal and that is sensitive with Thaksin's company that owned satellites at the time.

According to Biggs, the common thread in all five cases is that someone lost face. Policeman, monk, doctor, stewardess and politician - they are five respectable and worthy professions, he writes. To put such a group in the dock as a whole is something that is not done in Thailand. Although of course everyone knows that cops sometimes cor…. But now I stop, otherwise I will be censored.

(Source: Brunch, Bangkok Post, January 13, 2013)