Topless Thai painter on talent show stirs debate

The Associated Press, Sunday, June 17, 2012, 10:28pm (PDT)

BANGKOK (AP) -- An episode of "Thailand's Got Talent" has stirred a morality debate after a contestant painted a canvas using her bare breasts, drawing a rebuke from the culture minister who called it shocking.

Thailand's Culture Minister Sukumol Kunplome summoned the show's producers Monday, saying that nudity on public television is not considered appropriate in Thai society.

On Sunday evening, the show featured a 23-year-old artist who politely addressed the judges, then turned to face her canvas. She removed her shirt, doused her torso with multicolored paint and used her body as a paintbrush while dance music played in the background.

She advanced to the next round after a female judge rejected her but two male judges voted her through.