The porn scandal in Tahiland of Natt Chanapa. Hardcore porn is apparently illegal in Thailand (conservative Buddhists run the government there), but the people seem to have different opinions.

Chanapa became instantly popular based on the media and police attention she gained as a result of the investigation and has been offered large sums for mainstream acting and modeling jobs. In addition, and far more striking, is the widespread mainstream interest in the video itself. It would seem that if only 10 copies of the illicit video compact disc (VCD) were in Thailand before the story broke, by the following day millions of copies were changing hands throughout the country.

It would seem that the government’s effort to suppress the illicit material has only served to fan the flames of Chanapa’s popularity and that of the video itself, taking the underground video from the shadowy black market and thrusting it into mainstream pop culture.

I think this kind of cultural ‘rebellion’ is almost certain to happen anywhere that you have citizens with alot of freedoms and a sexually repressive government. Hell, its probably in its early stages here in the US – porn has become alot more popular and accepted just along with the government (FCC) becoming more conservative and restricting with what they will allow on the airwaves.