[shieclulaweew]

Quote[/b] ]it seems a bit of a rose-tinted viewpoint to me for the authorities to suggest that it's foreigners who do most to harm the reputation of Buddhism in Thailand.

Quote[/b] ]it will be overtly or maybe even subvertly stating that the foreigners are the roots of many of the problems.

Wait a minute, guys, hold on a sec! So you say that the purpose of this booklet is not so much the education of foreigners, but rather to make them the primary scapegoats for problems within the religion? That just doesn't make sense to me. I would understand if Thai people were the intended audience; then a blameshift would make sense. But the booklet will be distributed to "hotels, travel agencies, airline booths, consulates and the Immigration Bureau". Not exactly the best venues to make it known to the mainstream Thai public, or to gain a larger international publicity for that matter. It seems the only readers will be the foreign visitors who care to read such pamphlets. Why would the Thai gov't need to "'fess up" to a bunch of newbies who didn't even hear about the above problems? What they need is information to prevent honest blunders - that's exactly what this booklet will do. If it also provides the means to plug the loophole that many crooks used before ("Oh, I didn't know about that"), all the better.

The cases about those monks are sad, but hardly surprising. I mean, after the Christian priest-scandal, and the terrorists of Islam, what did you expect? Yet, these internal problems are no reason to ignore the external ones, right?

[FailiaFelay]

Monday September 13, 3:03 PM
Thailand Plans Etiquette Book for Foreign Tourists

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand, offended by a poster advertising a U.S. film that featured its director sitting on the head of a Buddha image, is drafting a Dos-and-Don'ts booklet for foreigners, officials said Monday.
But the government of the mostly Buddhist country denied news reports it was preparing a blacklist to ban from the kingdom foreigners who have offended Thai culture, they said.

"We are combining cultural tips for foreigners from various places into a book, which will use easy-to-understand wordings and be distributed through various channels," Vice Minister for Culture Weerasak Kowsurat told Reuters.

Weerasak said state agencies were working on the manual, which would include tips to remind visitors that the head is the most respected part of the body. He said they hoped to launch the book next year.

"We believe such a booklet will help reduce cultural conflicts between foreigners and their Thai hosts," Weerasak said. "They can be aware of what we do and don't here, but it is up to them if they will believe and follow what we've suggested."

The Foreign Ministry sent a protest letter to Philippe Caland, writer, director and leading character of the YBG Productions film, "Hollywood Buddha," after he was depicted sitting atop a Buddha's head in the film's promotional poster.

Caland promised to withdraw the poster.

The film's Web site pulled a large image of the offending picture but kept a smaller picture with a cross mark through it along with an apology letter to "the Buddhists of the World."

"With much chagrin I have learned that an advertising image for my film, "Hollywood Buddha," has offended Buddhists by depicting the main character, me, sitting on a Buddha statue," Caland said on the film's Web site, www.ybg.com.

"I offer my deepest apology for this inadvertent insult and disrespect," the letter said.

The film is about an independent Hollywood film producer who struggles to keep his head above water as everything falls apart around him.