BANGKOK, Thailand -- A TV station in Buddhist-majority Thailand has
agreed to allow government-approved "Islamic experts" to revise a soap
opera script after a small but vocal Muslim group complained that the
show misrepresents their religion.
The soap opera "Fah Jarod Sai" or "Where the Sky Meets the Sand" stars
Thai actors in a superficial melodrama portraying an imaginary
Arab-style royal officer who falls in love with a girl who is
half-Thai, half-French, in a fantasy kingdom named Hinfara.
On August 22, a small, outspoken Bangkok-based group, Muslims for
Peace, demanded Channel 7 cancel the series.
On August 24, in response, Channel 7's executives met Thailand's
moderate Muslim spiritual leader Aziz Phitakkumpon, who is the
"Chularatchamontri" or State Counselor for Islamic Affairs, which is
an advisory position approved by the prime minister and appointed by
the king.
It was not announced whether or not the Chularatchamontri and his
office's Muslim colleagues also objected to the soap opera.
The Muslims for Peace presented their complaint to Bangkok
Broadcasting and Television which operates Channel 7, the Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, and the National
Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The soap opera misled viewers into thinking the Muslim religion allows
its believers to be cruel to women and children, the group said,
according to the Bangkok Post.
"We are afraid that the lakhorn [soap opera] could eventually have
large-scale and unpredictable effects on Muslims if the ICT Ministry
and the NBTC do not cancel Fah Jarod Sai," the Muslims for Peace's
petition said.
The station already broadcasted four episodes on Monday and Tuesday
nights, and has eight remaining episodes.
Before producing the soap opera, the TV station translated all 12
episodes into English and presented them to the Egyptian Embassy in
Bangkok and Egypt's Culture Ministry to examine and discuss, the
Bangkok Post reported without elaborating.
Thailand is concerned about domestic and international perception over
its treatment of Muslims, partly because of alleged human rights
abuses committed by Thai troops fighting in the south where Islamist
separatists are waging a guerrilla war which has left more than 5,000
people dead on all sides since 2004.
Muslims for Peace "vehemently demonstrated in front of the U.S.
Embassy against the anti-Prophet Muhammad clip 'Innocence of Muslims'
last September," wrote Kong Rithdee, the Bangkok Post's hip,
sophisticated columnist who focuses on culture and society.
Bangkok Post
"The group believes that the [soap opera] series is an insult to
Islam, when in fact religion is not a point of the story," said Kong,
a self-described "moderate" Muslim.
"Like a mirage or an opium dream, this is a romantic vision fuelled by
risible, naive, dumb, Orientalist fantasy," Kong said.
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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco,
California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of
Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author
of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "Hello My Big Big
Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing
Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand:
Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final
chapter, Ceremonies and Regalia, in a new book titled King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective.
His websites are:
Asia Correspondent
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(Copyright 2013 Richard S Ehrlich)
