Film is dangerous: ten years of censorship in Thailand’s cinema, 2010–2020

Abstract

ABSTRACT The passing of the Cinema Act of 1930 marked the enforcement of the first official cinematic censorship measures in Thailand. However, it was constitutive censorship combined with official and expansive censorship practices enforced by the Film Censor Board that created an environment of self-censorship which is most dangerous for freedom of speech in cinema. The justification for banning films was that they constituted a threat to the nation – national security, unity, culture, religious values or good morality. In Thailand, the paramount framing of censorship is nationalism. Even in contemporary times, these nationalist formations of censorship are put into effect in the 2008 National Film and Video Act. This article analyses the expansive and subjective interpretation of national threat, especially the term of ‘morality’, which is not exclusive to film production, but extends into curatorial exhibitions and audiences’ access to cinema, an art form which is constrained by the censor/rating boards.