May 18, 2005
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's version of the popular Big Brother reality TV show is at risk of being axed after the kingdom's cultural watchdogs cried foul when contestants kissed and expressed their love on air.
Producers of "Big Brother-Thailand" have been called on to explain behaviour deemed improper by the country's culture watchdogs after two contestants were seen holding hands, touching and lying together under bedding.
The House of Representatives' committee on religion, arts and culture, warned that the show, launched in April, would be scrapped next week if they could not provide adequate rationale for keeping it on the air.
"The improper behaviour by contestants, including hugging, kissing and touching each other, is one of the reasons" for the concern, committee chairman Kuthep Saikrajang told AFP.
"I have no idea how this program is good for society," he said.
The show, a spinoff of the popular and steamy Dutch original, is broadcast 24 hours a day on a private cable station.
A 10-minute daily wrap is aired on ITV, a station controlled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family's media empire.
It pits 12 contestants in a house for 105 days, with 26 cameras recording their every move. Contestants are voted off one by one, and the lone survivor wins a house, a car and cash.
Last week two contestants, "Toto" and "Pim", became romantically involved and .
Kuthep said such images, while broadly accepted in the West, were inappropriate for the kingdom, especially as youths might imitate contestants' behaviour.
There were many programs under production to promote religion and righteous moral values, but they could not find broadcast time, he said.
Toto, the male contestant in the fracas, publicly apologised for his behavior, but Kuthep said it would not help solve society's problems.
Thailand embraced the reality TV concept last year, with the launch of Academy Fantasia.
"Thailand's Next Top Model", a local take of an American show, was to debut Wednesday.