New Mandala

33 responses so far ↓

• 1 Seh Fah // Sep 14, 2011 at 1:02 pm

  The Spice Girls (Comical, Jumbo, Chemical and the rest) must be green with envy!

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• 2 Nobody // Sep 14, 2011 at 1:06 pm

  The more elders try to tell the young something is wrong and that they shouldnt do it, the more the young want to do it and do indeed do it especially when most of those who frown on such practices are rather poor role models themselves.

  Thailand is a changing place in many many ways and none of it is going back in the bottle. The sooner this is understood by all, the easier it will be for everyone.

  Thai universities too are full of young women openly flaunting their sexuality with complete disregard for suggested dress codes and any sanction. Whether it is pandering to male ideas of sexuality, women taking control of their own expression/individualism or even a deliberate finger in the eye to educational establishments conservative authorities is another debate but it is very apparent.

  One wonders what the traditionalists would have made too of the traditional practice of many Thai women to be topless a while back in history

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• 3 Ross Walker // Sep 14, 2011 at 1:29 pm

  Thai University Teacher Reporting here,

  Most of my students are tickled pink by the song even if they’re a little bit put off by the raunchiness of the dance. They’re all abuzz with it in class and some of them are even to be heard singing it under their breath while working. They certainly aren’t debating the merits of it as a part of Thai culture.

  The whole thing has been engineered as a publicity stunt according to some of the people I have spoken to. They claim that the promoter developed the band and the song and dance number and then released it on youtube to flair the controversy. I don’t doubt that this plan has worked if it is indeed the case.

  I attended TEDxBKK this past weekend and there was an interesting talk given about national branding in the context of commercial advertising. The speaker noted that Thailand must become more officially self-aware of it’s own cultural practices and stop projecting the romantic traditional vision of Thai Dance and Music if it is too craft a successful brand. I don’t know how well it would really play to connect up Thai Airways and Nong Ja’s Turbo Music but I do think that people would do well not to come down down so hard on this very common culture of erotic dancing and wordplay.

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• 4 sulasno // Sep 14, 2011 at 2:51 pm

  she definitely needs some medication to get rid of the itch lol

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• 5 Khan Ju // Sep 14, 2011 at 3:26 pm

  Male singer can replace Huu (หู) ​by Juu (จู๋).
  It changes only the consonant.
  The vowel and tone are still the same!

  This is the beauty of Thai language

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• 6 eva seriche // Sep 14, 2011 at 4:11 pm

  The style as well as the reactions of the ministry remind me heaps of Dangdut, the popular Indonesian and Malaysian blend of Hindi, Arab and Western pop, often supported by cheesy house and techno beats.
  As one of my friends once famously said: the only things that hold Indonesia together as a nation are bahasa Indonesia and dangdut. Dangdut draws huge crowds of men and singers/dancers are abnormally sexy considering the conservatism of both Malaysian and Indonesian culture. Texts are full of saucy metaphors.
  Not surprisingly dangdut singers, grinding their hips while sighing and groaning, have wreaked the havoc of many a conservative Muslim authority. Inul Daratista, once banned from performing in Malaysia and (in)famous for her fast hip movements, is said to have triggered the Indonesian anti-pornography law.
  Check out for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIQZv5izERg&feature=related for a fine example. Admittedly, it’s all still a bit well behaved compared to our new Thai star…

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• 7 Seh Fah // Sep 14, 2011 at 5:11 pm

  Khan Ju #5

  Especially since ju (with a rising tone) means shrunken, very short.

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• 8 WLH // Sep 14, 2011 at 5:12 pm

  In Thailand, katoeys and fat men are permitted to express sexual desire because they are themselves undesirable by mainstream consensus view. Young attractive women are categorized as the objects of sexual desire, and therefore for one to express sexual desire herself is a subversion of the norm, which grates against the sensibilities of the social conservative mind, which by nature fears what it cannot comprehend.

  A certain person’s decision to videotape his wife wearing only a hat and eating cake off the floor, as odd as it may sound, adheres to the norms of Thai social conservatism much more closely.

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• 9 Nigella // Sep 14, 2011 at 5:51 pm

  OK, I just watched the concert video and Woody’s interview video, so here is the view of a 40-something farang woman, albeit one who’s lived in Bangkok since 2001…

  This is rather…sad. Nong Ja is very pretty, sexy, and talented — she sings well, dances well, shows a charming sense of humour, and deals with the sometimes-aggressive adoration of her male fans adeptly without making any of them lose face. But I cringed while watching the video because I couldn’t help thinking, why buy the cow if one can get the milk for free? (As my late Alabama gran used to say.) She’s pulled a shocker to start off her career, so where can she go from here — perhaps shooting out ping pong balls or stripping off completely whilst singing Khan Huu? (Bangkok has a shortage of people who can do those things…ha.) Someone has taken advantage of her naivete and ambition to make as much money off her talents as possible now, in the short term, by leaving very little to the imagination and hence leaving very narrow parameters for her career to develop in the long term. Her agent/management/label are laughing all the way to the bank right now due to a quickie payday. Of course Nong Ja has benefitted financially from the song, too, but scratching one’s punani and moaning whilst trying to disentangle oneself from salivating men twice one’s age loses its appeal after a while. She’ll need to work her ear off to rehabilitate her image enough to be ‘allowed’ to branch out into soap opera acting, TV presenting, crooning songs for film soundtracks, whatever.

  However, Woody is an a*s. Rather than show any concern for Nong Ja (she is, after all, only 20, FFS!), he oozes disdain during the interview — hell, he was stiff as a board (meaning frozen in repulsion, as opposed to the kind of stiff the song wants) even while she was performing. Woody needs to take himself less seriously. He would benefit from spending a little less time in the ivory citadels of, say, Siam Paragon or the RBSC.

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• 10 a Thai Student in Melbourne // Sep 14, 2011 at 6:02 pm

  The story is interesting until I read:

  ” For those interested in the politics of language and body language, it would make a fascinating study to compare Woody’s treatment of Princess Chulaphon with his treatment of Nong Ja.”

  Would you expect Bert Newton to ask the same question and act the same way when he interview Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga?

  Your point is neither neutral nor intelligent..at least politically.

  Hot debate. What do you think? Quality comment or not? 17  42

• 11 Ricardo D. // Sep 14, 2011 at 6:47 pm

  Newsflash: Anyone who’s earned a bachelors degree from a Thai university has seen and/or performed more sexually explicit material than N’ Ja’s.

  Thai universities have a tradition called rahp nong, which, for those of you who aren’t familiar with, is hazing/initiation involving being degraded, berated and humiliated, often deprived of sleep and plied with alcohol, sexually suggestive performances are common, and the activities are generally supported by the school. Participation is more or less compulsary for freshman, and the upper-classmen organize the activities. From my own uni experience some 10 years ago, two song and dance numbers come to mind: the “Clam Song” and the “Snake Song.” Both involved girls dancing suggestively and neither were about animals. This all took place in public, on uni grounds, with the teachers and admin staff fully aware (of course, this was back when cell phones didn’t have video cameras). I went to one of the more prestigious schools and my experience was not in any way unique. That’s Thai tradion for you.

  So, in sum: any person who attended a Thai university and is denouncing N’ Ja for her actions is a complete and utter hypocrite – I’m guessing this includes nearly all of the old heads in the chorus (not to say anything of their sons and daughters).

  Lastly, Andrew, I don’t think it’s appropiate to compare the two interviews with Woody. One of them was definately an exception to the norm. As Nigella pointed out, he’s generally an ass.

  -R

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• 12 Khun han // Sep 14, 2011 at 6:54 pm

  Woody is a representative of Thai culture’s repressive moral authority superego acting out. But the standard sanction of the Thai state on culture has not simply been a matter of controlling ‘unwanted’ behaviors, but rather a double-faced hypocricy of representing one thing (the ideal norms, national culture – whatever you want to call it) while leaving lacuna of the transgressive (of those norms) to exist AS LONG AS they aren’t too obvious, or too loud, or, as they say, as long as they don’t stir the public harmony/face. Ja and her itchy ear is ‘too loud’ I guess – but it also shows that, with the internet, it’s harder and harder for the state to control this surface (not merely behaviors). At the same time, as with the case of 112 and the ICT, the Thai state has shown its ability to adapt and expand its disciplining scheme in the internet era. Thus, we may see more decentralized, norm-challenging practices sprung up here and there, but also the ever-reaching state control. Back to Ja: it’s a bit of a shame when she, in the interview with Woody, half-admits her guilt and succumbs to this cultural superego working through Woody (although, at times, she also cites the real, everyday situations of working in clubs and bars and thus exposes, if implicitly, the hypocricy of Woody and the Thai state). IMHO, it’s these double standards (in culture, politics, etc) in Thailand that need to be exposed, openly discussed, challenged. Thus, my support to Ja and Turbo to stand on their firm ground and release more of such superb wordplay songs.

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• 13 rak woody // Sep 14, 2011 at 7:19 pm

  To: A thai student in Melbourne.

  Very good point. But I don’t think Nong Ja is as famous as the Dalai Lama.

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• 14 Maratjp // Sep 14, 2011 at 9:04 pm

  Amazing how the same basic plot has worked for 200k years since the dawn of homo sapians: hot chick shaking her booty gets male to shake uncontrollably. Civilizations have and gone, species have gone extinct, religions have appeared only to fall away, and yet this simple video shows how we all share one everlasting constant.

  Wonder how many of the Thai cultural police have this video bookmarked…

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• 15 Sexy Thai Music Video "Causes a Storm" // Sep 14, 2011 at 11:49 pm

  [...] [...]

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• 16 Anuthee // Sep 15, 2011 at 1:22 am

  Firstly, I think “hu” in this place doesn’t mean “juu” but a twist word of “หู-นี้” (hu nee = hee nu)

  Secondly, Prince Chulaporn, Dali Lama, Lady GaGa, whoever, should not they all be treated the same if we really serious about equality?

  I am not suggesting that Woody need to use a hard tone as he used with nong Ja when he speak with the princess or vice versa. He should just treat them equally with respect, sees them both as a human being with dignity which every single person on this earth no matter princess or dancer has the same. What he actually did was treating the prince with so warm and admirable tone while treating nong Ja, an ordinary girl, badly and look down on her just because he doesn’t like her.

  The more important point, I think, is also because Woody sees nong Ja as someone who violate a code of morality in this society while sees the princess (actually, the royal family as a whole) as a leading example of Thai morality. Or even if he happens to know something about the princess, he just wouldn’t dare to ask.

  I am supposing if Thailand has no Lese Majeste law and monarchy is not this powerful, would Woody still do the same? I think not, he would even ask about…whatsoever rumor in a cannery story.

  I think the point Andrew tried to make is to show us that a double-standard not only effects in politics of our society, but also in a cultural area as well. The elites can do whatsoever contrast to their own code of morality and still claimed themselves to be high in morality and get treated as Gods. Sorry, but can’t you see how fake this society is?

  I am not suggesting also that whatsoever rumors in cannery story is true, but we all should have a right to ask, isn’t it? Especially in a case that they are public figures that claimed themselves to be a good example of what they taught us everyday. They should answer about all of this rumors and clarify them if they still need us to believe what they said.

  If Woody really wants to protect morality of a Thai society, why he just don’t do the same to princess; put pressures on her, encourage her to answer about whatsoever rumors. Of course, Woody couldn’t do that because if he do, he would be in a crocodiles’ digest system already!

  The real problem is not at Woody (if I were him, I would do the same as well – I don’t want to be in a crocs’ stomach!). The problem is a controversy in morality claim between the elites and the commoners. If you are the elites, you would always be handled by a different standard. This is the same for both everyday life and politics… double standards is just everywhere!

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• 17 Yingluck has an urge to itch… | Asian Correspondent // Sep 15, 2011 at 2:10 am

  [...] Mahadthai who has a popular song called “คันหู” (or itchy ear). New Mandala explains the song:** The song itself is a tale of a young lady with an itchy ear (khan huu, คันหู) [...]

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• 18 bob // Sep 15, 2011 at 7:38 am

  “The story is interesting until I read:

  ” For those interested in the politics of language and body language, it would make a fascinating study to compare Woody’s treatment of Princess Chulaphon with his treatment of Nong Ja.”

  Would you expect Bert Newton to ask the same question and act the same way when he interview Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga?

  Your point is neither neutral nor intelligent..at least politically.”

  You are making laugh most of the forum s readers with this ridiculous comparison (Dalai Lama and…)

  Quality comment or not? 11  3

• 19 Billy Budd // Sep 15, 2011 at 9:31 am

  Whenever I hear Khun Wood-ee I am reminded of Mr Leo, Adrian Cronauers camp fashion correspondent in “Good Morning Vietnam”.

  Cronauer … “We’ve got a special man in the audience today right now…it’s Mr. Leo. He’s a fashion consultant for the Army.”
  Cronauer as Mr. Leo … “Why thank you, Adrian. I’m just very happy to be here. I want to tell you something. You know, this whole camouflage thing for me doesn’t work very well.”
  Cronauer … “Why is that?”
  Cronauer as Mr. Leo … “Well, because you go into the jungle, I can’t SEE you! You know, its like wearing stripes and plaid! For me, I want to do something different. You know, if you go in the jungle, make a statement! If you’re going to fight, CLASH!”

  …..But then I am just a no-class, low-class fahrang philistine, immune to his ever-so, hi-so, charms.
  Some older fahrangs here may remember the English TV Presenter baffled and offended by “The Sex Pistols” many years ago. That may be on Youtube too for comparison.
  The Times They Are A-Changin as septuagenarian Bob Dylan sang oh so many years ago.
  Plus ca change……

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• 20 John // Sep 15, 2011 at 10:04 am

  The very real and visible culture of corruption and bribery across Thailand is 1000% more offensive than the gyrations and lewd actions of a Thai singer. Go to any festival urban or rural and you’ll see scantily clad girls grinding and pouting. Its everywhere. Ja turbo just made it more out there and more offensive. As she says people like it.
  If there were real moral standards and ethics from Thai leaders and elders across the country this sort of behavior in public may not be so prevalent.
  Yet this is unfortunately not the case with Thailand’s elders who in most cases are as morally corrupt as those that promote the seedier side of Thai culture as there’s easy MONEY to be made . This kind of sub- culture is accepted by a large percentage of the population, as its existed and thrived for decades.

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• 21 Seh Fah // Sep 15, 2011 at 12:40 pm

  Nong Ja has qualities her detractors lack: she’s young, beautiful, intelligent and talented, and I’ve yet to hear her utter a word of criticism of anyone else. I wish her well.

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• 22 T F Rhoden // Sep 15, 2011 at 2:50 pm

  I prefer comparative politics…anyone remember this?

  http://youtu.be/AFiwFKDyp8A

  Skip to 3:00 to relive Madonna’s own itchy ear moment. ^__^

  Quality comment or not? 1  1

• 23 Nattavud Pimpa // Sep 15, 2011 at 2:56 pm

  The show is a part of the modern Thai pop culture. As one of the many audiences, I understand that both Woody and nong Ja knew the consequence of the show from the beginning. The nature of the entertainment world is ‘you’d better being scolded than not being watched’ and this is woody’s receipt for success since his very first show, Hiso-Bannok.

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• 24 Ramawongse S. // Sep 15, 2011 at 9:38 pm

  @Eva

  I’d say that there are some pretty hardcore Dangdut performances out there that leave Nong Ja in the dust

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLtBy9x4xYE&feature=related

  Asian culture can seem rather hypocritical at times, yes.

  A lot of Asian moralists bay for the blood of those who flaunt such sexuality openly. Some of those doing this fall into the same category as the likes of Eliot Spitzer and themselves have mistresses or indulge in various vices hidden from the public eye.

  I wouldn’t claim to speak for all of Asia, but a lot of the younger Asian adults like myself in their 20s and 30s are hoping for a new normal thats a bit more liberal instead of all these goons in their 40s and 50s making so much noise over such performances and then happily going to massage parlours, accepting tea money and screwing poor people over behind closed doors.

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• 25 Frank G Anderson // Sep 16, 2011 at 12:27 am

  Around 45 years ago in my early Peace Corps days (daze) I was in Buriram, at the local provincial hall, watching a couple of Thai women holdilng a document the governor had signed and laughing like the devil. At the time I did not know what they were talking about, but later understood. They were making fun of the governor’s hand-writing wherein he meant to write the word “bear” with the rising tone and ee vowel, but had written it loosely enough for the letter M to look like an H. So the word was not bear but you-know-what. The two girls were enjoying their little aside.
  A point here is that this country is in bad shape and society is as Sonthi Limthongkul said, “hia.” Many people are fed up, sick and have grown estranged, and the old guard is getting tired of people not walking the straight and narrow.
  Put this together and you have trouble brewing. The types of control being implemented are nothing short of communist Korea on the one hand, and the looseness in common decency, ethics and morals on the other is sometimes as bad as it seems to be able to get – but then gets worse.

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• 26 Mr Damage // Sep 17, 2011 at 9:12 pm

  She’s just cashing in on her sexuality, like so many before her, it is of course all in the timing to be more extreme than everyone else. The Sex Pistols drew attention from being out there at the right time, shock and awe offends the oldies and sells more CDs.

  Funny though watching the video, looks like she is playing to a Cafe audience of men wanting to throw money at her so she joins them at their table later. Her case of “crabs” though is pretty tame compared to some of the sex and projectile shows that used to be in Patpong (or still are), wonder why they never upset the Culture Ministry. Still remember an Allie G movie where the Thai Ambassadors wife started on the ping pong balls, suspect the itch will do less international stereotyping.

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• 27 Stuart // Sep 18, 2011 at 12:37 am

  WLH (8)

  Let’s not to refer to a certain person as “a certain person” on this website.

  For the sake of sending the MICT’s search engine optimisation toolkit into overdrive, please allow me to edit your very good point as follows:

  “Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn’s decision to videotape his wife wearing only a hat and eating cake off the floor…”

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• 28 Constant Petit // Sep 19, 2011 at 10:44 am

  Much ado about nothing!

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• 29 Chris L // Sep 30, 2011 at 1:45 pm

  The Nation has an article on the topic written by Tulsathit :

  [Woody] has been cursed, scolded, scorned and virtually torn to pieces on YouTube. Tens of thousands of stinging feedbacks prompted the TV host to clarify his stand, which probably has made things worse.

  In defending himself, Woody suggested that people should not judge him based on that one broadcast interview, where many things had to be taken into account. “If you ask me what I think of her personally, I like her a lot. But you have to understand that, on TV, you’ve got to keep your style in asking interview questions,” he said.

  That was what Ja tried to say during the interview, albeit in a stammering, emotionally-stricken manner. After Woody said, “What got to me was the question why our country has this kind of woman”, she replied, her voice shaken, “It was just a show. It’s a job. An honest job. If I had been able to choose, I would not have chosen this kind of life. I’m not that good looking and I don’t sing that well. In this business, I needed to find a selling point.”

  Misguided about a “selling point”, maybe, but what the audience saw was a naive girl being totally truthful about what she did and why she did it. My younger brother played in a pub band and I know exactly what she was talking about. When bands auditioned for contracts, the first thing prospective employers demanded was that female singers and dancers be scantily dressed. The dirtier the dance, the better the chance of getting the job. Like it or not, that’s the way things are.

  “It doesn’t matter if you play like the Scorpions or are terrible as hell,” my brother told me. “The first thing a pub-owner is interested in is near nudity in your show. Every band now has to employ sexy singers who are not afraid to appear all but naked. The way Nong Ja is dressed in that video is a modest version of what’s been going on in various pubs around the country.”

  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/new/opinion/Dirty-dancing-leaves-everyone-in-a-spin-30166302.html

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• 30 Raunchy ‘Itchy Ear’ song exposes Thai sexual hypocrisy « Saiyasombut // Oct 1, 2011 at 12:01 pm

  [...] “คันหู : Nong Ja ahead of Democrats!“, by Andrew Walker, New Mandala, September 14, 2011 [...]

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• 31 Andrew Walker // Oct 4, 2011 at 6:44 am

  The Sydney Morning Herald is now onto the Nong Ja phenomenon: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/steamy-performance-lands-latest-thai-pop-sensation-in-hot-water-20111003-1l5bo.html

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• 32 Anuthee // Oct 4, 2011 at 3:57 pm

  I just recently found this show on YouTube. If I am correct, this interview of Nong Ja was conducted not so long after she was interviewed by Woody.

  The show is very good when compared to Woody’s one, check it out!

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• 33 Contradicción y sexualidad en la joven Tailandia | Bo Pen Ñan // Dec 21, 2011 at 10:29 pm

  [...] parte de la información que aquí utilizo es de un artículo de New [...]

  Quality comment or not? 0  0

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