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BANGKOK, THAILAND, September 12, 2004: The Thai government says it is writing a book on national etiquette to try to tackle the problem of culturally insensitive foreigners. It was prompted to act after posters for a US film picturing a man sitting on the head of a Buddha statue caused public outrage. Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, and disrespecting the Buddha’s image is taken seriously. Some officials called for “malicious” foreigners to be banned from Thailand. But a government minister denied reports that it was preparing a blacklist to ban foreigners who had offended Thai culture. “It is up to them if they will believe and follow what we’ve suggested,” Vice-Minister for Culture Weerasak Kowsurat told Reuters news agency. Religion is deeply respected in Thai culture, as is the royal family, and insulting either of them is considered extremely rude. The US film that caused offence, Hollywood Buddha, is the story of a struggling film producer who turns to the Buddhist faith to help boost his career. Empowered by the support of his new-found religion, the producer starts to turn things around. The film’s writer and director Philippe Caland has agreed to withdraw the poster. He also apologized for “this inadvertent insult and disrespect”.

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