GTH, a filmmaking subsidiary of GMM Entertainment, yesterday announced that the release of the film "Mak Tae" (Lucky Loser) had been postponed until further notice due to concerns raised by the Lao Embassy and Thailand's Foreign Ministry that the film may harm relations between the two countries.

"Mak Tae", originally scheduled for its premiere on Thursday, is a comedy about football in which the Thai and Lao national teams meet in a qualifier to decide who goes to the World Cup.

Visute Poolworalaks, CEO of GTH, said yesterday that the company listened to all parties concerned and decided to put off the film's screening date.

"The best way to deal with the current situation is to halt the release of the film", he said.

However, Visute said the company might still consider releasing the film in the future.

He said the film, which had a budget of more than Bt60 million, had already been cut to avoid the possibility of offending people.

"We've already removed many scenes that might possibly be too sensitive to the relationship between the two countries," he said.

"GTH always thought that whoever saw the film, whether Thai or Laotian, would like it. So this is very unexpected," he said.

The film's director, Adisorn Tresirikasem, described it as an entertaining story about the football dreams of Asians. But if it did not serve that purpose, he supported the company's decision not to release it, Adisorn said.

"But I still believe in the film and would love people to see it so they will get answers to any doubts they may have," he said.

Jira Maligool, a producer at GTH, said those involved in the project had good intentions. The films GTH makes are carefully thought out to please all audiences, and are produced with good intentions, Jira said.

"I was very happy over the past two years with this film project. I hoped that it would be popular among audiences in Southeast Asia," he said.

Jira said that originally the film was three hours long, but the production team decided to cut many scenes they thought might be sensitive in terms of relations with Laos. The final cut is less than two hours long, he said.

After the press preview last week, the Lao Embassy expressed concern over the film and GTH sent a copy to the embassy for viewing.

They then arranged a meeting in which the Lao ambassador made a few suggestions about the film.

Jira said the Lao officials liked many parts of the film but found some parts inappropriate.

"I want to say that the ultimate message of the film is all about the dreams we share, especially about football," he said."All Asian people have a dream and we still pursue our dream despite our difficulties."

Although the filmmakers had good intentions, people tended to be influenced by what they heard in the media, Jira said.

Kriangsak Suwanpantakul

The Nation