THAILAND — It’s not just Christians and Muslims that get cranky when their holy figures are taken lightly — especially within a sexual context. A U.S. based porn site that includes what some see as disrespectful images of the Lord Buddha has higher-ups in Thailand demanding that the government block citizens from accessing its contents.”It’s an act of sacrilege,” Ladda Tangsupachai, chief of the country’s Culture Ministry monitoring center insists, explaining the outrage against BuddhaPorn.com.
The site in question is based in Chicago, IL and is said to use both the name of Buddha and his image in its catalogue, facts that were revealed when a monk assisting the center filed a formal complain.
Ladda believes that the international Buddhist community should condemn the site and has reported it to both Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sriaroon and ministry permanent secretary Weera Rojpojanarat.
The Culture Ministry chief urged the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to block the site in order to avoid offending Thai religious sensibilities and says that the Foreign Affairs Ministry plans to bring the matter to the attention of the United States Embassy in Bangkok. Additionally, the Minister of Foreign Affairs plans to contact the website owner with a warning prior to taking legal against him.
