Thais Are Shocked, Shocked by Topless Dancers

[Gerald]

BANGKOK — To millions of tourists, this is a city famous for its tolerance and notoriously wild nightlife.

But a national uproar over several girls who danced topless in public during raucous celebrations at the recently concluded Songkran water festival has underlined the limits of acceptable behavior and the nuances of public morality here.

The dancers were filmed gyrating to thumping music in the heart of Bangkok on Friday, and video of it circulated widely. One clip was viewed by nearly one million people before being removed. Reports of the episode shot to the top of Thai news Web sites, and the police began an investigation. Suddenly, one of Asia’s most socially liberal societies showed a deeply conservative side.

“We will take legal actions against them,” a police official, Maj. Gen. Suwat Jangyodsuk, said of the dancers in an interview on Monday. “This has damaged a traditional Thai ceremony. The charge is doing a shameful act in public by indecently exposing oneself.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/world/asia/19thai.html?ref=world


Note: April 18, 2011

[Takeda Shingen]

Talk about mixed signals. :doh:

[tater]

LOL. Pretty funny given the constant harangue walking down the street by the tuk tuk drivers... "Pat png! Pat pong!"

[nikimcbee]

gyrating to thumping music :o:haha::woot:

They've never been to ore-gone then. Portland boasts more stripclubs per capita than anywhere else in the US(?) They say that anyway.:o

oh, they are full nude, not topless.:D:03:

Now why is it I can hear the stampeading sound of ferret paws?:haha::hmmm:

[Fish In The Water]

“This has damaged a traditional Thai ceremony. The charge is doing a shameful act in public by indecently exposing oneself.”

I was really having a hard time understanding this until I read that last sentence. What with Bangkok's wild reputation, you'd think the mere act of topless dancing would hardly draw more than a yawn.

The only way this makes sense is if it's somehow viewed as an affront to some quasi-sacred/time-honored Thai ceremony.

[Ducimus]

Songkran water festival

Ok...... that explains that.

I retracted my previous unrelated and out of context post of the down and dirty details of GI overseas, volume 1 - Duci does Asia.

[Dowly]

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Dowly/d5b50994-3e02-45d7-ad0b-94a120817d7d.jpg

[TLAM Strike]

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/Dowly/d5b50994-3e02-45d7-ad0b-94a120817d7d.jpg

Be careful there Dowly this is Thailand we are talking about, if the internet has taught us anything its that's the odds are they were either underage prostitutes or had penises... :O:

[Jimbuna]

Be careful there Dowly this is Thailand we are talking about, if the internet has taught us anything its that's the odds are they were either underage prostitutes or had penises... :O:

I was mindful to post that till I got to your post :DL

You could also accuse them of double standards or hypocrisy if it wasn't for the reference to some ceremony :hmmm:

[Molon Labe]

Be careful there Dowly this is Thailand we are talking about, if the internet has taught us anything its that's the odds are they were either underage prostitutes or had penises... :O:

http://groomsadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/admiral-ackbar-trap-231x300.jpg

[Ducimus]

Don't worry Dowly, I guarantee you aren't missing much. Asian gals, typically don't stack much of a rack.

[vienna]

Thailand has many laws prohibiting activities that are openly done all over their country; they are, however, selectively enforced. Just like the Claude Rains character from "Casablanca" referenced in the topic's title, Thais will become "shocked, shocked" at infractions if it serves a purpose, usually to offset outside pressure or to rid themselves of undesireables. Enforcement is sometimes used to assist other nations in the pursuit of fugitives. The prevalence of the well-known questionable activities is a major tourism draw and it is not likely the Thais will broadly enforce the laws on the books. This case may be because the activity was a cultural event rather than a purely entertainment event. Imagine, say, a St. Patrick's Day parade where some riders on the floats were topless while down the street a "gentlemen's club" was open and doing business. The outcry would be loud against the float becuse of its context; the same people crying out might not see any harm in patronizing the "club".