Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawat Saikuar (centre) in action in his ill-fated music video promoting traditional grocery stores
By Terry Fredrickson
Nattawut Saikuar's music video promoting traditional grocery stores has been deleted from YouTube after the deputy commerce minister's creation received far more ridicule than praise from the 50,000 viewers who watched it.
Please join us on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning
Click button to listen to Nattawut and rightclick to download
Is it really that bad?
Well, it looks like Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar's music video has been deleted from its official YouTube site.
Cho Huay Show Suay, which features the minister singing and dancing with a variety of enthusiastic and not-so-enthusiastic commerce officials and grocery retailers, was written by Mr Nattawut to promote traditional grocery stores.
The Commerce Ministry uploaded the video to YouTube on June 22 to celebrate the two-month mark in Mr Nattawut's move to encourage more people to buy goods from traditional grocery shops.
The response was not quite what the deputy minister had expected. Ridicule rather than applause was the typical reaction.
"Retarded," said one commentator. "The deputy commerce minister is terrible," said another. Many said it was a waste of government time and money.
Others questioned the song's originality, pointing out that the melody was very similar to "Black Superman (Muhammad Ali) by English artist Johnny Wakelin and The Kinshasa Band, opening the ministry to a copyright violation claim.
While the video quickly garnered 50,000 views, viewer dislikes outnumbered the likes by a huge margin: 1,560 to 160 by 11am Wednesday.
Hours later, YouTube showed a message saying the video had been removed by the user.
Don't tell anyone but you can still see it here. What do you think? Is it really as bad as people say?
Adapted from a story in today's Bangkok Post.
Vocabulary
deputy – a person whose rank is immediately below that of the leader of an organisation รอง
deputy minister – a minister who assists the main minister in overseeing the work of the ministry รัฐมนตรีช่วยว่าการกระทรวง
Commerce Ministry – the Thai government ministry focusing on internal and external tarde, ensuring free and fair trade and protecting consumers กระทรวงพาณิชย์
traditional – of a custom, a way of life or a way of doing things that has not changed for a long time เป็นประเพณี, ตามธรรมเนียม
grocery store – a shop/store that sells food and other things used in the home ร้านขายของชำ
delete – to remove something that has been written or printed, or that has been stored on a computer ลบออก, เอาออก, ตัดออก
feature – to include someone or something as an important part มีบทบาทสำคัญใน
variety – many different types of things or people ความหลากหลาย
enthusiastic – very interested in something or excited about it อย่างสนใจ กระตือรือร้น
retailer – a person or company that sells goods directly to the public for their own use ผู้ขายปลีก
mark – a level or point that something reaches that is thought to be important ความสำคัญ
encourage – to cause someone to want to do something กระตุ้น ให้การสนับสนุน
response – a reaction to something that has happened or been said การตอบสนอง
ridicule – to make somebody/something look silly by laughing at them or it in an unkind way เยาะเย้ย, ล้อเลียน
applause – showing enjoyment or approval of something such as a performance or speech by clapping the hands repeatedly to make a noise การปรบมือแสดงความชื่นชม
typical – having the usual qualities or features of a particular type of person, thing or group เป็นแบบฉบับ, เป็นสัญลักษณ์
reaction – the way you behave or respond as a result of something that happens ปฏิกิริยาตอบโต้
retarded – less developed mentally than is normal for a particular age ปัญญาอ่อน
terrible – very bad, having a very poor quality แย่มาก, ไม่ได้เรื่อง, ห่วย
originality – the quality of being new and interesting in a way that is different from anything that has existed before ความคิดริเริ่ม, ความแปลกใหม่, ความไม่เหมือนใคร
melody – a tune, especially the main tune in a piece of music written for several instruments or voices, the arrangement of musical notes in a tune ทำนองเพลง
similar – like somebody/something but not exactly the same คล้ายกัน
copyright – the legal right to control the production and selling of a book, play, film, photograph or piece of music ลิขสิทธิ์
violation – an action that is against a law, agreement, principle, etc. การฝ่าฝืน
claim – saying that you have the right to have or own something, especially land or property การอ้างสิทธิ
garner – to obtain; to get ได้รับ, รวบรวมได้
remove – to take something away เอาออกจาก
