A Thai filmmaker said he has decided to cancel the opening of a new comedy that pokes fun at a fictional Laotian football team, after complaints from the neighboring country.
"After meeting with the Laotian ambassador, we saw that they were very concerned about the impact of the movie" on relations with Thailand, producer Yongyoot Thongkongtoon said.
"So we decided not to release the movie," he told reporters.
"Mak Te" (Football) had been scheduled to open Thursday, but Laotian officials complained after a preview screening that the movie's jokes belittle Laotians and that the film contains "inappropriate" scenes.
Thailand's foreign ministry also voiced concern that it might jeopardize relations between the neighbors.
"We asked the producer not to show it at cinemas until the scripts are adjusted so that Laos is not mentioned in the story," an embassy official told AFP on condition of anonymity after the filmmaker met the ambassador.
But Yongyoot said he had no plans for new edits and would shelve the film, which tells the story of a Thai coach who leads the Laotian football team to the World Cup.
It is the second Thai film in less than a month to offend a neighbouring country. Horror movie "Ghost Game" brought protests from Cambodia, which complained that it exploited the tragic history of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
"After meeting with the Laotian ambassador, we saw that they were very concerned about the impact of the movie" on relations with Thailand, producer Yongyoot Thongkongtoon said.
"So we decided not to release the movie," he told reporters.
"Mak Te" (Football) had been scheduled to open Thursday, but Laotian officials complained after a preview screening that the movie's jokes belittle Laotians and that the film contains "inappropriate" scenes.
Thailand's foreign ministry also voiced concern that it might jeopardize relations between the neighbors.
"We asked the producer not to show it at cinemas until the scripts are adjusted so that Laos is not mentioned in the story," an embassy official told AFP on condition of anonymity after the filmmaker met the ambassador.
But Yongyoot said he had no plans for new edits and would shelve the film, which tells the story of a Thai coach who leads the Laotian football team to the World Cup.
It is the second Thai film in less than a month to offend a neighbouring country. Horror movie "Ghost Game" brought protests from Cambodia, which complained that it exploited the tragic history of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
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