Culture Ministry’s conservatism will kill khon

The Culture Ministry states that instead of riding a go-kart or jet-ski in this light-hearted video to promote tourism, Thotsakan should be riding an elephant.

But I posit that neither go-karts nor jet-skis experience an infancy of spirit-breaking torture, a lifetime of subjugation under the weight of fat tourists (let alone the King of the Giants), and the resultant abbreviated old age of crippling, swaybacked arthritis.

With respect, from this cultural historian and theatre professional, true “high” art becomes such not because of its unchanging nature but rather because of its ability to transform and adapt to evolving morals and ethics as we come to understand more and more about the realities of nature and essential humanity.

If, instead, “high” art stays locked in the past, that is where it shall remain – consigned to the dustbin of history.

MA Ouellette