Thailand’s Ministry of Culture has drafted (via) a new Thai Film Act in an effort to update the kingdom’s currently archaic censorship system. The major change of the act, which is about to be submitted to the National Legislative Assembly, is that it will introduce a film-rating system.

The Thai film industry has been petitioning governments for decades to amend the current Thai Film Act that was promulgated in 1930, two years before the country opted for a democractic system under a constitutional monarchy.

Under existing legislation, Thai and foreign films are subject to appraisals by a strict censorship board, dominated by senior police officers, that have a reputation for cutting out all explicit sex scenes and anything deemed offensive to the national religion, Buddhism, or themes thought politically sensitive.

The industry has been lobbying to have the current censorship system replaced by film ratings, such as ‘R’ for films restricted to adults.

But some are already worried that the amended film act may worsen the environment for artistic freedom rather than improve it.

‘It could be even worse, because they’ll have both the rating system and, probably, the censors,’ film critic Suparb Rimthephhathip warned.

The censorship debate in Thailand hit the news last week when the award-winning Thai film Saeng Sattawat (Syndromes and a Century) missed its local début in Thai cinemas because of the board of censors insisted on cutting several ’sensitive’ scenes.

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