Saturday, December 31, 2005 :: Chris
Bangkok Guide Book Banned In Thailand
The guidebook Bangkok Inside Out has recently been banned by the Thai Ministry of Culture, citing it as portraying a negative image of Thailand's capital city. The book is a glossy photo-led overview of Bangkok in the 21st century, providing an alphabetised take on every aspect of urban Thai life in the metropolis, from the amulets that every Thai wears to alms-giving to ladyboy cabarets, all the way through to shopping and the city's notorious sex trade. The chapter about Patpong, Bangkok's sex strip, was deemed as particularly offensive. (Publishers Equinox have cleverly made this Patpong chapter available as a free PDF download for readers to see for themselves what has caused such a fuss. They also have a complete round up of the various reviews of the book and the articles about its subsequent banning).

Bangkok Inside Out is not a guidebook per se - it's more inspirational than practical, a bit like Very Thai, another great photobook that explains Thai customs and lifestyles. If it references Bangkok's go-go bars and massage parlours, it doesn't celebrate them - and indeed, a cursory browse of the books available at any branch of Asia Books, Bangkok's biggest bookshop, will turn up a slew of titles that unabashedly chronicle the exploits of sex tourists and sexpats alike. Check Sex, Lies And Bar Girls as an example. I don't have a problem with these sort of books being on sale - but they do make the Ministry Of Culture's decision to insist on Bangkok Inside Out's removal from all shelves under threat of prosecution all the more baffling - a wholly arbitrary decision.

Asia Times has its original, glowing review of Bangkok Inside Out, plus the eloquent response from its two authors to the book's banning. Here's hoping that the ban will be rescinded early in the New Year.

Bangkok Inside Out is still available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

More on Bangkok Inside Out:
Spike | Google | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Wikipedia
Open Directory | Technorati: Bangkok Inside Out [permalink] | [0 comments]

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A journal about living and travelling in Thailand by Chris Mitchell, a British travel writer based in Bangkok, Thailand.

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