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[Sexpat]

There's an article in the BP today by a guy named Kong Rithdee, who writes about movies and popular culture in the Bangkok Post real.time section. He is one of the few Thai reporters you will find these days who ever writes anything in English that's critical about the current leadership, civilian or military.

The article contrasts the latest dark Hollywood movie about war, The Hurt Locker, with an upcoming romantic Thai comedy about the army called Exhilarating Regiment.. In a country that has seen more military coups than most places in the world, the writer notes that cinema about the Thai army" runs more towards slapstick."

The article concludes:

"No serious film about soldiers has been made in Thailand, and I don't think there ever will be. The present reality of the military as an institution that inspires mistrust, scorn and even fear means it would have to take guts bigger than Bigelow's to make a movie that dares confront such reality, from the 2006 putsch to the formation of this government, from the chaos in the South to the GT200 fiasco. No wonder the army is championing comedy films. Instead of shaking up, they prefer to laugh it off. Indeed what we have is an exhilarating regiment."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion...rating-regiment