Thai censors drop ban on border row film

BANGKOK, April 26, 2013 (AFP) - Thai censors will allow a documentary about a border row with Cambodia to be screened, a culture ministry official said Thursday, in a U-turn after banning the film as a threat to national security.

Censors watched "Boundary", which explores the lives of people caught up in conflict in the area near the Preah Vihear temple, twice on Thursday and decided the initial call to ban it was "a mistake".

"There was a mistake by officials," an official at the country's Video and Film Office told AFP, requesting anonymity.

It can be screened with some changes "which the director is willing to make", the official said, adding the sub-committee was wrong to ban it from Thai screens in the first place.

Filmmaker Nontawat Numbenchapol welcomed the reversal and said his documentary -- which made its screen debut in Europe -- will now be shown with the sound cut from a brief section.

"I'm confident that audience will understand my film which aims to open more discussion," he said of the documentary, which touches on flashpoint political protests in Bangkok as well as the border spat -- currently being adjudicated by the UN's highest court.

Some of the film's most contentious scenes come from Thailand's febrile recent history including a bloody crackdown on "Red Shirt" protesters in the heart of Bangkok in 2010.

On Wednesday the official at the Film and Video Office, which falls under the culture ministry, said the documentary was banned because its content could cause "a rift in international relations".

The film could also "cause disunity among Thais and jeopardise national security", he added.

Thailand does not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has seen deadly clashes along their joint border.

But both sides claim an adjacent 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) patch of land.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) completed hearings last week after Cambodia asked for an interpretation of the 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear temple area.

A verdict from the ICJ, which judges disputes between states, is not expected for several months.