Leaping into the argument is Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat, who asked police prosecutors to order those involved in the topless Songkran Coyote dance case to also perform community service, such as reading books to kindergarten children about the Songkran festival at least three times.
 The homepage of the Thailand Ministry of Culture Sunday morning, April 17, 2011 |
 The homepage of the Thailand Ministry of Culture Sunday evening, April 17, 2011 |
At the same time as publicly lambasting the three topless Songkran Coyote girls though, the minister’s own website was displaying a banner depicting three bare breasted Thai women above a photo of the country’s reigning monarch, His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej.
As news of the three topless Songkran Coyote girls spread throughout the country, the social networks come alive, discussing the double standards that apply in Thailand, along with the artwork displayed the ministry’s website.
By late afternoon on the last day of the annual Songkran holiday, and a Sunday to boot, some poor webmaster was dragged off his holidays to change the ministry’s homepage artwork, so that the ministry and its minister didn’t look any more foolish than they did already.
With a history of heavily censoring the internet against material that shows the true goings-on in Thailand, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Culture Watch Centre director Ladda Tangsupachai also yesterday ordered the National Police Office and the Information Communications and Technology Ministry to ban the video clips on the Internet.
Billed as the world’s largest water fight, the Songkran Thai New Year festival attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists annually and for the last two years have seen celebrations take place with armed troops and red-shirt protesters on the streets of the nations capital.
Thais too are reveling in the opportunity to celebrate Songkran in a peaceful environment, flocking to their favorite holiday destinations in their droves and providing a much needed boost to the Thai travel industry.
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