Just 4 minutes of difference between ‘Hoon Payon’ and ‘Pook Payon’, but a big gap in ratings

They were both screened at the same theatres but at different times, while their posters were also similar.

If your curiosity made you see both films, you would have soon realised that they are in fact mostly identical, except for one small detail — "Pook Payon" is four minutes longer.

This peculiar phenomenon has not been seen in Thai film industry for a long time, at least not since the Film and Video Act of 2008 came into effect.

Let’s back up a few weeks to see how it happened.

Earlier last month, a horror film made by Five Star Production “Hoon Payon” was scheduled for screening in theatres on March 7. Directed by Phontharis Chotkijsadarsopon ("Ghost Ship", "Pee Nak Trilogy"), the film follows the same theme of "Pee Nak" — a young man’s horrific experience with supernatural beings.

The plot

“Hoon Payon”, a Thai version of voodoo dolls, tells the story of Tham, a young lad who travels to a remote temple on an island to visit his brother who has been living as a monk there.

Tham learns that his brother was killed after he was framed for murder and theft. Tham decides to stay on to investigate his brother's death and clear his name, only to discover more mysterious deaths in the adjacent village.

Although the film is full of suspense and horror, the director did not forget to add comedic elements like in “Pee Nak” through a gang of novice monks to draw occasional laughter from the audiences.

The judges' verdict

After a screening event for the press, Five Star Production received bad news from Ministry of Culture’s Film and Video Screening Office, which decided to give Hoon Payon a 20+ rating. The office said the film contains violence and “inappropriate” scenes suitable only for adult viewers.

According to the judges, the problematic scenes included the fighting of novice monks in saffron robes, a young monk hugging his mum when he thought he saw a ghost, and the reciting of Buddhism’s Five Precepts during a murder scene. The office also remarked that monks in the film still have their eyebrows unshaven, contradicting the normal practice of monks in Thailand.

Five Star Production decided to postpone public screening to re-edit the film so that it receives an 18+ rating as intended for the film’s target groups. The company’s decision has led to public criticism on the verdict of Film and Video Screening Office, especially regarding the inappropriateness around monkhood.

Some argued that although Buddhist monks are prohibited from touching a woman, a novice monk should be able to hug his mother as long as there was no sexual intention.

The problem with the screening office

I have learned that the Film and Video Screening Office comprises seven rotating commissioners, four from government agencies and three from the private sector. These commissioners are either experts in arts and culture, mass media, or environment, with no required qualifications in the field of cinematography. One commissioner is usually a representative from a national security agency or Buddhism agency.

The ratings of the Film and Video Screening Office have often been criticised by the public for lack of standards and consistency due to the rotation of commissioners. The office also, on many occasions, has ordered filmmakers to fix scenes portraying Buddhist monks in different scenarios. This included a monk playing a guitar in “Syndrome & Century” (Apichartpong Weerasettakul), a crying monk in “Tai Baan the Series 2.2” (Surasuk Pongsorn), and lastly, a novice monk hugging his mother in “Hoon Payon”.

I also learned that each commissioner has limited time to watch all the films before giving a rating, so they end up skipping most parts of the film, or only focus on the parts that concern their agencies.

Furthermore, due to the fact that different commissioners work on different days of the week, filmmakers have learned to submit their film for rating consideration on a specific day so that their film will be graded by a set of more lenient judges.

Two versions of the same movie

After Five Star Production postponed the public screening, they re-edited the film by adding a few scenes unrelated to the judges’ comments, and changed the name to "Pook Payon" (which still carries the same meaning of voodoo dolls), and resubmitted it for evaluation, this time on a different day of the week from the previous time.

As expected, Pook Payon received an 18+ rating with no problem.

I remember a similar tactic being used for the film “Karma” (2015). Director Kanittha Kwanyu changed the Thai name from Arbat to Arpat and resubmitted her film to get a different rating.

This time, however, Five Star Production decided to show both versions as different movies. Viewers of "Hoon Payon" were required to prove that they were over 20 by showing their ID card.

It is ironic that authorities wanted the film to fix some monk-related scenes, while the core of the movie itself follows the path of conservative Buddhism. “Hoon Payon” has a plausible conclusion that serves as the moral of the story: Superstition sometimes disguises itself as religion to blind people from the truth.

The rating decision for “Hoon Payon” only proves that the judges did not care about the message the movie was trying to convey, or they did not get the message at all. That is probably the reason why they gave the strictest rating to limit viewership of the film.

Personally, I think the film has its flaws, especially in the investigation part. The carefully built suspenseful background in the first half was later ruined by the hero’s unexplained superior investigation skills and his ability to be unfazed by the deaths of others.

The director also failed to give hints along the course of movie to add some weight to his plot twist at the end, turning the ending into what we call “because the director said so”.

In the end, it does not matter which movie you choose to see, as they are basically the same film. However, I couldn’t help but feel bad for some who might have thought that one is a sequel to the other and bought tickets for both unknowingly.

After all, an adult ticket for theatres in big shopping malls nowadays is almost 300 baht.