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A Thai TV station will (well maybe) broadcasting a 3 part documentary about sex change, from Bangkok Post March 7, 2011
Having viewed the Youtube videos, while all in Thai, it gives some insight into the lives of non-p4p lbs who want to have the sex reassignment operation.
Re-editing sex change special may be the unkindest cut of all
Published: 7/03/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Life
Please don't panic. The scheduled three-part television series about sex-change operation, Khon Kon Khon, hasn't actually been banned by Modern 9 TV. A rumour went around that the series, which was replaced by a two-episode series about Luang Ta Maha Bua, didn't go air because it had been banned.
A capture from youtube.com features project manager Yollada Krirkkong in the first of the three-part series on free sex-change operation. The series was originally scheduled to be broadcast on Modern 9 TV on March 1.
What happened was that TV Burapha, the company producing the series, was asked to edit the content down to two hours on the very night the series was supposed to air. The request was to shift the main focus away from the story of a 53-year-old person trapped in the wrong body and desperately wanting to have a sex-change operation, and to make the content more medically oriented. It was thought that the original theme might be too provocative for the general public.
However, the production team didn't want to make the change requested because "these people seem to be discriminated against", said Khon Kon Khon producer Kaewta Trisawong.
Based on a project by Yollada Krirkkong to offer free sex change to cash-strapped transgender people to fulfil their dreams of becoming a woman, the series aimed to dig deep into the operation process in both scientific and sensational terms. Among more than 100 applications, five passed the interview session, but only three were deemed mentally and physically qualified for the operation.
"It shows how painful it is for a man nearing retirement to be trapped in the wrong body all his life," said Kaewta, referring to a 53-year-old applicant. "The applicant said he would be happy to die the next day after the operation _ only in a female's body."
Despite problems in getting the series to air, it went public anyway. Following the controversy, the series was broadcast on youtube.com, drawing more than 30,000 views in just two days. The production team also plans to broadcast the series on pay TV in the future.
Columnist Vitaya Saeng-Aroon says it would be a shame if the series is not screened on public TV because it is an educational piece and could help create a better understanding of transgender people.
More importantly, Vitaya says, youtube is a closed channel. Not everyone _ especially those with low incomes _ has internet access, and therefore cannot share the plight of a person being stuck in the wrong body.
"Nobody would want to wake up one day and cut an organ off from his/her body if they didn't feel they were trapped in the wrong body," said Vitaya after having watched the first part of the series.
Modern 9 TV wasn't available for comment.
The series is now available in http://www.tf101.com/.
Published: 7/03/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Life
Please don't panic. The scheduled three-part television series about sex-change operation, Khon Kon Khon, hasn't actually been banned by Modern 9 TV. A rumour went around that the series, which was replaced by a two-episode series about Luang Ta Maha Bua, didn't go air because it had been banned.
A capture from youtube.com features project manager Yollada Krirkkong in the first of the three-part series on free sex-change operation. The series was originally scheduled to be broadcast on Modern 9 TV on March 1.
What happened was that TV Burapha, the company producing the series, was asked to edit the content down to two hours on the very night the series was supposed to air. The request was to shift the main focus away from the story of a 53-year-old person trapped in the wrong body and desperately wanting to have a sex-change operation, and to make the content more medically oriented. It was thought that the original theme might be too provocative for the general public.
However, the production team didn't want to make the change requested because "these people seem to be discriminated against", said Khon Kon Khon producer Kaewta Trisawong.
Based on a project by Yollada Krirkkong to offer free sex change to cash-strapped transgender people to fulfil their dreams of becoming a woman, the series aimed to dig deep into the operation process in both scientific and sensational terms. Among more than 100 applications, five passed the interview session, but only three were deemed mentally and physically qualified for the operation.
"It shows how painful it is for a man nearing retirement to be trapped in the wrong body all his life," said Kaewta, referring to a 53-year-old applicant. "The applicant said he would be happy to die the next day after the operation _ only in a female's body."
Despite problems in getting the series to air, it went public anyway. Following the controversy, the series was broadcast on youtube.com, drawing more than 30,000 views in just two days. The production team also plans to broadcast the series on pay TV in the future.
Columnist Vitaya Saeng-Aroon says it would be a shame if the series is not screened on public TV because it is an educational piece and could help create a better understanding of transgender people.
More importantly, Vitaya says, youtube is a closed channel. Not everyone _ especially those with low incomes _ has internet access, and therefore cannot share the plight of a person being stuck in the wrong body.
"Nobody would want to wake up one day and cut an organ off from his/her body if they didn't feel they were trapped in the wrong body," said Vitaya after having watched the first part of the series.
Modern 9 TV wasn't available for comment.
The series is now available in http://www.tf101.com/.
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