Nok Air calendar "inappropriate"
Culture Permanent Secretary Prisana Pongtatpitakkul on Saturday attacked Nok Air for its controversial calendar.
"The calendar shows that several business operators still adhere to conventional practices in using female bodies as the PR or marketing tool," she said. "They lack the sense of social and cultural responsiblity and ignore social and cultural repercussions - particularly female dignity." She noted that this explained why foreigners still have negative attitude towards Thai women and all parties in Thai society need to lend a hand in fixing this.
Nok Air now shows the photo of 12 girls in yellow bikinis, posting in front of its aircraft, on its Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nokairlines. The girls appear on the front cover of its calendar, which will be distributed to 300 fans.
Prisana admitted that it is within the airline's rights to do so and the Culture Ministry has no rights to punish it. She said the ministry will soon host a discussion with related parties like the advertising association, PR companies, media and consumer protection agencies to address the issue, before using female bodies as a marketing tool will becomes an acceptable norm.
