After releasing a trailer of a new Thai film "Abat", it has been an argument widely about how harmful the movie is. Due to the movie content, it violates moral, cultural norms and religion of Thai. Some said that this movie should not to be launched because it will make people lost faithfulness in monks and Buddhism. So, self-proclaimed Buddhist Protection Organization lodged against Culture Ministry and Thai Censorship Board to ban the movie. However, does it make sense?
To begin with the truth that the world has been changed. Banning this movie is like we do not accept the truth and run away from the problems. Our society is not the same as the old days anymore. Some people are over-optimistic. They think people are still polite and follow the rules like the old days while the truth is not. Have you watched the news lately? If you have watched, you can see that there are cruel things that really happened in our society every single day. There are a great number of notorious news which are about the misbehaving of a monk. For instance, an affair between a monk and women or a monk asks for money which claimed for a donation like "เณรคำ". However, the government just pretend that it is unacceptable to launch the based-on true story and let the whole world watch it. Come on, we all know that this kind of news actually occurs in the society, but why we have to pretend like there are no immoral issues happened in our society.
Besides, this movie is not a threat, but the opportunity. Every movie has its own idea to tell the audiences. For "Abat", it will let the audiences whether they are children, teenagers, or monks to know the result of doing bad things. Then, they will not do it. Who knows? Maybe after watching this movie, the monk that misbehaving monk may feel ashamed and stop doing all those misbehaviors.
Moreover, because THEY think this movie is not appropriate, so what about our thoughts? People all around the world have the right to think what is good or bad for themselves, except Thai people. Maybe this is the reason why Thailand is still developing, but not developed country. Just the movie, we still don't have a right to choose and see it. Maybe the meaning of 'democracy' of Thailand might differ from other countries. However, we are not the kids anymore to let others make our own choice for us. We all should have the right to think and decide by ourselves.
Banning the movie, is this the real solution to fix all issues? We believe this is not the way out of these issues. The real solution is to open minds and see what is the real cause of all these issues then solve them. It is better than keeping people away from the truth. For those who think this is not appropriate for children, you can limit the age. For example; under 15 years old, there must accompanied by parents. For those who already grown-up, it is our own right not yours to decide whether it is suitable for us or not.
Do not let the idea of right was in only the air. Just open your mind , get out of the box ,and see things as they actually are. Now, it is your own choice. Do you want someone else to think for you?