November 26th, 2006, 20:33
Thailand culture police censor Opera
The Nation 19th November
Art lovers are rallying round the beleaguered director of Bangkok Opera after Thai government censors forced him to change his work, Ayodhya, or risk being shut down.
In a country still jittery after September's military coup, officials from the Ministry of Culture, an Orwellian body charged with protecting Thailand's heritage and morals, claimed that the opera, a retelling of the Ramayana epic, would bring bad luck.
'They said that if anything happened to anyone in power it would be blamed on Ayodhya,' said the composer Somtow Sucharitkul.
In the end, the opera, with an international cast led by British counter-tenor Michael Chance, went ahead after changes, but Somtow was warned that, if anything offended the 'morals of Thailand', the ministry would intervene.
Ayodhya broke with tradition in depicting the death of a key character, the demon-king, known as Thotsakan in the Thai version but Ravan in the opera. The story is usually depicted as a stylised, masked drama in which the dying happens off stage. Somtow, who wrote the opera as a tribute to Thailand's beloved King Bhumipol, said ministry officials approached him a few days before the show's opening.
'It seems to involve nationalism - I'm not sure what it is. This opera was not designed to be political in any way,' he said.
Thailand has often used artistic propaganda to shore up political leaders, but most thought those days had passed. Somtow, 53, educated at Eton and Cambridge before returning to Thailand in the 1970s, said: 'It was like this in the Seventies. That's why I left, but this time I'm too old and I'm just not going to go.'
================================================== ======
Culture Ministry censors do more damage to Thailand than superstitious hokum
Letters page The Nation
Re: "Death scene could get 'Ayodhya' axed", News, November 19.
What's all this nonsense about Thotsakan's death scene bringing bad luck? According to your article, the Culture Ministry has bullied Somtow Sucharitkul into changing his opera "Ayodhya" so that Thotsakan does not die onstage. Their reason? Such a scene will bring bad luck to Thailand.
The Culture Ministry should do its homework. Thotsakan was just a demon - and he's dead, together with all his 10 heads. He has nothing to do with bringing bad luck to Thailand. I do. Bad luck in Thailand comes under my jurisdiction: and I, Rahu, consider it a sign of brazen disrespect when the Culture Ministry implies that a two-baht demon like Thotsakan could possibly have usurped even a fraction of my function.
So get your act together and back off, Culture Ministry (aka Ministry of Social Control). Somtow Sucharitkul has done more to promote Thai culture internationally than any 10 ministries I can think of. Hassle him and you merely shoot yourself in the
head. In this case, you've made Thailand a laughing stock among the nations of the world by publicising your weakness for idiotic superstitions.
If you're going to promote superstitions, promote intelligent ones like the one I am about to recommend. If you really want to keep bad luck away from Thailand, let's pay a little more attention to Rahu. I haven't noticed anybody offering me any black chickens lately, or black jelly, or black rice. Some black somtam, too, would not be viewed unfavourably. Neglect makes me testy, and you don't want that, because then I throw tantrums that bring bad luck. If I throw a tantrum in my present mood, you can blame it on the Culture Ministry.
Rahu, Mooneater, Suneater, God of Darkness
Bangkok
The Nation 19th November
Art lovers are rallying round the beleaguered director of Bangkok Opera after Thai government censors forced him to change his work, Ayodhya, or risk being shut down.
In a country still jittery after September's military coup, officials from the Ministry of Culture, an Orwellian body charged with protecting Thailand's heritage and morals, claimed that the opera, a retelling of the Ramayana epic, would bring bad luck.
'They said that if anything happened to anyone in power it would be blamed on Ayodhya,' said the composer Somtow Sucharitkul.
In the end, the opera, with an international cast led by British counter-tenor Michael Chance, went ahead after changes, but Somtow was warned that, if anything offended the 'morals of Thailand', the ministry would intervene.
Ayodhya broke with tradition in depicting the death of a key character, the demon-king, known as Thotsakan in the Thai version but Ravan in the opera. The story is usually depicted as a stylised, masked drama in which the dying happens off stage. Somtow, who wrote the opera as a tribute to Thailand's beloved King Bhumipol, said ministry officials approached him a few days before the show's opening.
'It seems to involve nationalism - I'm not sure what it is. This opera was not designed to be political in any way,' he said.
Thailand has often used artistic propaganda to shore up political leaders, but most thought those days had passed. Somtow, 53, educated at Eton and Cambridge before returning to Thailand in the 1970s, said: 'It was like this in the Seventies. That's why I left, but this time I'm too old and I'm just not going to go.'
================================================== ======
Culture Ministry censors do more damage to Thailand than superstitious hokum
Letters page The Nation
Re: "Death scene could get 'Ayodhya' axed", News, November 19.
What's all this nonsense about Thotsakan's death scene bringing bad luck? According to your article, the Culture Ministry has bullied Somtow Sucharitkul into changing his opera "Ayodhya" so that Thotsakan does not die onstage. Their reason? Such a scene will bring bad luck to Thailand.
The Culture Ministry should do its homework. Thotsakan was just a demon - and he's dead, together with all his 10 heads. He has nothing to do with bringing bad luck to Thailand. I do. Bad luck in Thailand comes under my jurisdiction: and I, Rahu, consider it a sign of brazen disrespect when the Culture Ministry implies that a two-baht demon like Thotsakan could possibly have usurped even a fraction of my function.
So get your act together and back off, Culture Ministry (aka Ministry of Social Control). Somtow Sucharitkul has done more to promote Thai culture internationally than any 10 ministries I can think of. Hassle him and you merely shoot yourself in the
head. In this case, you've made Thailand a laughing stock among the nations of the world by publicising your weakness for idiotic superstitions.
If you're going to promote superstitions, promote intelligent ones like the one I am about to recommend. If you really want to keep bad luck away from Thailand, let's pay a little more attention to Rahu. I haven't noticed anybody offering me any black chickens lately, or black jelly, or black rice. Some black somtam, too, would not be viewed unfavourably. Neglect makes me testy, and you don't want that, because then I throw tantrums that bring bad luck. If I throw a tantrum in my present mood, you can blame it on the Culture Ministry.
Rahu, Mooneater, Suneater, God of Darkness
Bangkok