BANGKOK – The Tourism Authority of Thailand is distancing itself from the Bangkok International Film Festival, which is currently the subject of court proceedings in the United States.
A US federal grand jury has indicted husband and wife Film Festival Management executives Gerald and Patricia Green for allegedly bribing a senior Thai government official into awarding them lucrative contracts to run the festival.
The Hollywood Reporter said the indictment has charged the Greens with one count of conspiracy to bribe a foreign public official in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as six other counts of violating the FCPA.
According to the grand jury indictment, between 2002 and 2007, Gerald Green, 75, and Patricia Green, 42, channelled more than US$900,000 to a Thai official who was president of the Bangkok film festival and governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand at the time.
The lawyer representing the Greens say they will deny all charges
Although not named in court documents, the government official in question is believed to be former festival president Juthamas Siriwan, who also was the tourism authority governor at that time. She has also denied the allegations.
Speaking at ASEAN Tourism Forum yesterday Phornsiri Manoharn, who replaced Juthamas as governor, said the TAT was speaking to the Film Association of Thailand about hosting the event.
She said, “The Bangkok International Film Festival was very successful last year. Bangkok is a world city and should have its own film festival.
“Normally the national tourism office wouldn’t host an event such as this, so we are looking for a new host.
“We would hand over the name of the event to a new host, whom we would support in keeping the festival going.”
by Ian Jarrett
