Plainclothes officials were confiscating copies of the current issue of Samey Thmei this week, apparently because the entertainment magazine had published racy photos of naked and scantily clad women, newsstand vendors said.
One vendor, who declined to provide her name, said that local authorities came to her newsstand on Street 51 on Tuesday and “confiscated Samey Thmei when they saw it, and they told me this magazine published the hot porn pictures.”
Another vendor, Set Pheak, said she was asked Tuesday morning by a small group of men claiming to be local authorities, whether she sold Samey Thmei.
“The last issues were normal pictures, but this issue looked to have…porn pictures,” she said, adding that she told the officials that she doesn’t carry the magazine.
But exactly who was taking Samey Thmei, or Modern Magazine, off newsstands remained uncertain Wednesday.
Municipality deputy police chief Hy Prou said police had not removed the magazines.
Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Pavi said by telephone Wednesday the National Committee on the Promotion of Morality, Women and Family Values, of which she is member, had asked the editor of Samey Thmei to “review the content and not disseminate such content as it damages the young generation.”
However, the committee had not ordered the confiscation of the publication because such authority lies with the district governor.
But Chamkar Mon District Governor Lou Yuy and Municipal Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong both said Wednesday that they knew nothing about the confiscations.
Samey Thmei Editor-in-Chief Saint Sim On said Wednesday that the current issue, which came out about a week ago, did contain racier photos than previous editions, and he will probably tone down the next one.
“The Ministry of Information advised me not to publish porn pictures like this again,” he said. “I will reform the next issue.”
Saint Sim On he was told the Information Ministry had not ordered the confiscation of his magazine.
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said Tuesday that one magazine was publishing racy images, adding, “I have already educated that magazine.”
