Authors respond to the recent banning in Thailand of their book, “Bangkok Inside Out”

December 2, 2005 by wfzimmerman | No comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Authors respond to the recent banning in Thailand of their book, “Bangkok Inside Out”:

“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 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.” This is the author’s response.

(PRWEB) December 2, 2005 — 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….

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, Lumphini 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.

Clearly a LMU.

Mark Hanusz, the publisher, is an honorable man.

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