My 2 cents on The Porn Star (Nong Nat) case
Note: This entry of my blog has nothing what so ever with my normal subjects. But I’d like to keep a piece of my thought about a current event online.
Probably, by now, most of Thai people domestic and abroad already know about a Thai girl who was a porn movie actor and her movie (which was taken a few years ago and at that time she was 19 years of age) just became very well known to Thai public.
Just a bit of background information about porn in Thailand; it’s illegal for anyone to partake in a porno movie (I’m talking XXX rate and not about one of those movies that uses camera angle to hide the fake kissin’ and stuff) selling porno materials (including but not limited to porno VDO, VCD, DVD, and Sex toys) or even own a XXX porno movie. Despite the fact that selling porno flicks is illegal, you can go practically anywhere and buy one.
Well, I got my own thinking on this as I never thought of staring in a porno movie would be such a high crime or a big subject for that matter. The topic even went on air the other night (on a talk show much like US’s 60 minutes). I felt, however, pathetic toward the Police department as I think even if they want to rid of porn movies in Thailand, this is clearly the wrong approach.
I have no right and no voice to tell the department what to do. But the department has no need to make this matter such big news. It seems almost like the police dept wants to be famous for getting a big break on cracking the porn industry. I believe the investigation should have been conducted in a more discreet manner and somewhat protect her as a witness as well. From the television show, I got the feeling that the police has some prejudice feeling about the woman that she is not a decent woman and that she has been a porn star, therefore there weren’t much need to protect her. When you come to think of it, (at least from my perspective) her crime is quite minute comparing to murderers, corrupters, and thugs that seem to roam the kingdom rather freely and proudly. Some may even appear as a high-ranking officer or even as a politician. The department should be working hard on other matters instead of catching a helpless porno chick.
Another important point I wish to state is if the department’s true plan is to eradicate the problem once and for all, making this as a big news won’t do much good. Do you really think that the guy who had the movie shot would be around for the police to catch him? Hell no! He’s probably gone out of the country by now (assuming he’s in the country at all). All they will get is the lowest bottom of the porn chain industry and that’s people who are buying and selling porno VCDs--not the big guys.
My personally voiceless rantings
1. While they are conducting a quiet investigation with the porno lady, they should try to go up the food chain and try to get to the top. But the top guy could be one of your bosses in the government sector? :)
2. Nat, the porn star, probably know little or nothing about who was really behind the thing. She’s merely an actor. Don’t be so harsh on her!
3. What have the police department done up until now has been aggravating the situation as people are even more curious about the girl and how to acquire the flick. You are saying you are trying to crack down and bust the people who are distributing the VCDs, at the same time you are creating the demand for it. Before this thing went red, I bet less than 10% of Thai population probably has seen the film. But now I think almost all has probably seen some forms or parts of the movie.
4. This issue will probably last for a few days or weeks before it went away and all the Thais will forget about what ever happened.
5. Porno materials should be legalized. This I’m talking about not only the movies but also the toys and whatever adult materials you can think of. But you should legalize it with a system to support it. It should be created so that there are supervising organization and rules to govern it. As for example, the material can only be sold to an adult (18+). And the law should be strict enough. I believe such system has been working perfectly fine in many civilized countries and will continue to be so. By doing so, porn materials can be taxed and the country will even get revenue & profit out of it. (Much like how I’d like Casino and alike to be legalized)
6. For Nat, I’d like to say that although you have been in porn movies and photo shoots, It was your decision and your decision alone. You may regret about it and I also feel deeply sorry for you. As I know no one would want to be in your shoes. I really liked it when you admitted firmly about what you have done and willing to take the full responsibility. Keep on the fight, and be strong.
Here are some pics of her which are being posted everywhere on various News sites:
20 Comments:
This is quite an interesting read. I thought the web will have only drawings and comics. This is some heavy shit.
1:32 AM
ผมก็เห็นด้วยคับกับที่ยงเขียนมา มันเหมือนกับตำรวจทำเพื่อเอาหน้ายังไงไม่รู้สิ หรือไม่ก็ทำเพื่อเอาอย่างอื่น
9:50 AM
Yong, It's quite sad for your country that porn is illegal. Come back to the US!
10:04 AM
วัฒนธรรมเป็นแนวทาง ไม่ใช่ข้อบังคับ
10:15 AM
"Her name is Nong Nat. To keep myself up to date, I watched her porn movie last night. Her body is pretty sexy. (I cant explain much about that in here, dont want to turn Yong's blog to be a sex forum :-P )
Poor her, she's just a porno star like hundreds of them in this country. She is a victim of this freak society.
She has my sympathy." Said Lazy Bum.
10:37 AM
I love the pics you posted, especially the ones toward the end of the entry.
2:56 PM
Wow, I have no idea that you've your thought through this whole Nong Nat thing. Well, I agreed with you on some points, but then I'm not sure if it's ok for the country to make porno stuffs and casino to become legalize. I see, all those strict regulations have been working well in civilize countries, but admit it that maybe we're not ready....I've read newspaper everyday and for god sake! there have been so many young (15 and lower) boys commited crimes...rape, steal or even murder. Things can be changed but that need to start from the root such as education, family, gaverment, etc. I belive that even we have strict rules for these things (casino and porno), but we don't have the officer that ready to make the rules strict enough...well, just my comment :-) Thanks for interesting storiessss na ja, Mr. Mango
3:25 PM
I like the painting very much...I can easily tell it's the girl.
3:25 PM
(Comment # 7), you are absolutely right about it. To legalize all these stuff will take a great deal of time and effort. I know it's not quite ready for Thai society just yet. But somehow we have to take a first step. Because if we are not taking the initiative, we will pretty much be in our own little country and being under developed until God know when. Besides, when will you say..."Oh..we are ready..now we are going to legalize it"?
Furthermore, it's not like the government can control the present situation about transacting porno flicks in Thailand. The movies are still being bought and sold everywhere...illegally right under their nose and they probably know about it (and probably profit from it). My humble thought is that by making it under a government law, we will slowly adapt to the new idea of porn being legal. Besides porn movies (for me, at least) do little or no harm at all to the society. In fact, I think it's a good outlet for those who has no girlfriend (or boyfriend). Instead of having a horny guys running around the city trying to rape some girls in order to get it out of their system!
A good porn business must have the following ingredients:
1. Actors and actresses should have the legal age of 18 years+
2. They should always use condom in the film because it will be a subliminal message to viewers about safe sex and all
2. Only mature purchasers can buy the porn movies (18+ )
3:49 PM
Wow, I have no idea that you've your thought through this whole Nong Nat thing. Well, I agreed with you on some points, but then I'm not sure if it's ok for the country to make porno stuffs and casino to become legalize. I see, all those strict regulations have been working well in civilize countries, but admit it that maybe we're not ready....I've read newspaper everyday and for god sake! there have been so many young (15 and lower) boys commited crimes...rape, steal or even murder. Things can be changed but that need to start from the root such as education, family, gaverment, etc. I belive that even we have strict rules for these things (casino and porno), but we don't have the officer that ready to make the rules strict enough...well, just my comment :-) Thanks for interesting storiessss na ja, Mr. Mango
3:56 PM
This is quite a hot topic in Thailand huh?
10:04 PM
Where I can find her VCDs in the States?
10:48 PM
I gree with you,Yong!! At least, I can found that there are some people who can see through the problem. Cause' when we see this problem, it's not fair for her. The actor might go away, but this girl has to take guilty. The police department should create their image by not destroying other. Right?? -Troy
12:20 AM
Troy I agree with you....All these could have been done behind closed door until the real problem's solved.
12:27 AM
Thai censorship laws are very out of date. The laws were promulgated in the 30s by elderly civil servants and military men who had largely formed their ideas about decency in the 19th century. The huge gap between the anachronism of the legal status quo and the reality of the modern day world creates a vacuum where police can enforce the law selectively as it suits them. They have no real interest in stopping the business in pornographic flics or, more particularly the much bigger business in pirated movies, which are distributed through the same channels. This business is a huge money spinner for many influential figures in Thailand as well as for the police in kick backs. The pirated movie business, like the pirated software business, is viewed by most Thais as a way to correct the inequity of copywrite owners in Western countries charging unfair prices to Thai consumers who cannot afford Western prices. Under the current regime police are under pressure to support the government's "social order campaign" which gained favour with the urban middle classes by trying to deal with the issues of teenage drinking, drugs and sex etc by regulating nitespots, massage spots etc. The government's popularity, although still strong with the gullible rural poor, has waned markedly with the urban middle classes this year and an election is coming up. So the pressure may be on again to produce more results in the area of "social order". However, the moves against Nong Nat smack of not very intelligent attempts by individual policeman to gain favour with the public and possibly to extort money. The flics (there are apparently 5 of them) were clearly made a long time ago. (She looks very different in them than she does on TV now.) As a 19 year old actress, she is unlikely to know much about who was behind movies she participated in several years ago. The move seems to be back firing badly against the police. The Thai public love an underdog and Nong Nat's appearances on TV have won over male and female viewers alike. She is lovely and demure and projects an image of a self confident but unassuming modern young woman who is not afraid to admit what she has done or take the consequences - a far cry from the jaded, corrupt whore the police thought to portray. Meanwhile, she has been flooded with offers of lucrative modelling work. The flic that I have seen is very run of the mill stuff. She is beautiful but the movie just features boring repetitive actions to awful somnulent music. Just looking at the pictures on the covers of the DVDs offered by countless hustlers on Bangkok's streets and shopping malls, it is clear that there is much harder core stuff on the market. There are also countless brothels within 100 metres of police stations featuring captive teenage prostitutes lured from their homes in neighbouring countries with promises of decent jobs. There are many cases of female illegal immigrants repeatedly raped in police stations. Just two examples of sex related crime police could more usefully spend public resources to prevent.
10:43 AM
Comment #15, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you. I think it's true when it comes to the issue about the prices of copyrighted goods. Like you have stated:
"...like the pirated software business, is viewed by most Thais as a way to correct the inequity of copywrite owners in Western countries charging unfair prices to Thai consumers who cannot afford Western prices."
When I was in the USA getting US$6,000 a month and I thought US$16 for a DVD was reasonable (I bought 5+ new DVDs on a weekly basis). Once I moved back my salary dropped and I now consider US$16 for a DVD is outrageous. Probably I would buy just 1 DVD a week instead of 5. I you calculate the ratio of income and the price of DVDs, each pop of DVD should cost no more than 128 Baht. Much like in the software case. Otherwise, Thais would view them as too expensive and rather pirate instead.
And I'm with you about Police should spend more effort on other issues instead of Nong Nat thing.
Again Thank you for your insightful comments.
Yong
12:05 PM
This thing is getting out of control!!! But she looks lovely.
2:18 PM
Copyright: The problem is that you can not even find a lot of the legal stuff, even if you would want to buy it. The sw & vdo industry should make sure, that there is a good availability of their stuff here and not beat down the few (!!!) places to buy pirated stuff. Sometimes, it looks more like a monopol from western nations ... By the way: In Indonesia a original movie costs 130000 Rp and a copy 10000 RP. No normal person could ever afford a real dvd. Just to put things into perspective.
Nong Nat: Sorry, to say, but I somewhat thing the discussion goes into the wrong direction. Everyone - and she did, too - know the law. She knows, too, that people who see the movie can just walk up to any police station and file against her. She knew all this and still did it. The court just gave her " whip " and out she was and apart from some bad press nothing happened - as to be expected. If she wanted to make a point about Thailand and the laws, she could have said more and become and activist, but she choose not to. It was a mistake she did in the past. That's all of the story.
I live here for decades and I can not recall the day, I was interested in porn. If I buy a few of these flicks, I can same as well go get the real stuff, if I would want to. I am not hitting at the very wrong image of the country (Thailand is a kindergarten compared to Japan, Korea, Singapore or Jakarta), but just the facts.
PC Blogger said something about murderers etc walking freely in the streets. I would challange that: The police is trying to do a good job and keeps the place as save as possible. Its better her then in many many other countries.
Then again you will find in many countries that some people slip through the net ... even in America.
Cheers!
11:11 AM
please...could you guys tell me where could i find her movies collections?
4:35 AM
where could i find one ofher movies on the net?
4:36 AM
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