The report claims Sirimongkol had his fine and jail term reduced because he
"cooperated" with local police. One is tempted to wonder what that means. The
imagination gets similarly animated about the definition of "good behavior" in
this case, a condition of his two-year jail suspension. The fine? Four thousand
baht - about US$100, a fortune for most Thais, but Sirimongkol was reportedly
paid 50 times that amount for his saucy pix.
As with many aspects of Thai culture, this country's approach to "pornography"
seems bizarre to many Westerners, for the prudery that reigns in this
department appears at odds with day-to-day life. Looking at this particular
instance as an example, it would be a mistake to assume that the prosecution of
Sirimongkol was an act of homophobia, any more than the authorities' (also
rather half-hearted) campaign against Nong Natt (Natt
Chanapa answers porn charges, 1-8-2005), reflects prejudice against
beautiful women. On the contrary, Thais practically worship beautiful women -
and their tolerance of a broad range of sexual lifestyles, including
homosexuality, is renowned.
Expatriates in Thailand joke that the country has a "touch but don't look"
philosophy of sex. By illustration, the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto
and Montreal are considered liberal by North American standards as to what is
permitted in terms of nudity in "adult" entertainment establishments, but
touching a stripper sexually in any of those cities (at least without paying
extra for a "private session") invites an unpleasant encounter with a very
large bouncer. In Bangkok, even toplessness is illegal, but groping the dancers
(and the waitresses) in bars is commonplace.
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To be sure, Thailand is an Alice's Restaurant of sexuality - you can get
anything you want, within reason (the country's reputation for child sex is
mostly a figment of fevered Western imaginations cashed in on by
"anti-human-trafficking" NGOs). Heterosexuals, homosexuals and everything in
between, of both sexes (and everything in between), both Thai and foreign,
live, work and play here freely and openly, and no one bats an eyelid. But if
someone tries to look at a picture on the Internet or in a magazine of such
activities, the country has a collective nervous breakdown.
It is also true, though, that Thailand's anti-sex laws are not enforced with
much vigor and, as with other matters, these laws are viewed primarily as means
of lining the pockets of the authorities rather than establishing social order.
While the recent crackdown against nudity in the bars was effective for a
while, it was carried out sporadically even at its height, and the police have
largely become bored with it now and things are pretty much back to normal in
the "better" establishments. Attempts to block Internet porn were always
analogous with Canute trying to hold back the tide, but one would have thought
that any serious effort would have had greater effect than it has by now.
So, has the gay magazine Heat been put in the deep-freeze? Has Sirimongkol
Singwancha suffered a TKO? Perhaps, but the incident is much more likely to
have been more form than substance.
