THAILAND: ORANGUTAN FAMILY HAVE BECOME VIRTUAL SUPERSTARS

Описание: (17 Mar 1997) Thai/English

A sex scandal of an unusual nature is causing uproar in Thailand.

Mike the orangutan is taking a lover, just a year after his much-hyped union with Susu made the couple the world's only officially married primates.

But the fuss may not be as ridiculous as it seems.

It may be a coded way of tackling a major Thai taboo - the issue of the "mia noi", the kept mistress.

Seven-year-old Susu is the picture of a happy mum, carefully cradling her two-month- old baby boy, currently called Monsit, the Thai word for joy.

The orangutan family are virtual superstars in Thailand.

Weekend attendances as Lop Buri Zoo have increased eight fold.

A competition to name the baby drew ten thousand entries.

The father, nine-year-old Mike, had been celibate for three years following the death of his partner.

The arrival of Susu from Taiwan seemed the perfect solution to his solitude.

Through clever marketing the story of animal passion snowballed and overtook the country.

It culminated in a lavish wedding ceremony last April, attended by throngs of media and thousands of well-wishers.

Thailand boasted the only officially married primates in the world, and it appealed to the people's well developed sense of fun.

But it's run out with astonishing speed with the news that Mike is to have a new partner, Malee - a Southern belle from the Malaysian border.

The Zoo Director says he's lost count of the deluge of letters pouring in since the announcement of Mike's planned infidelity.

More significantly, the senders are clearly divided into two camps.

SOUNDBITE:(Thai)
"Nearly all the letters from men agree that Mike should have a mistress, but all those from women are absolutely against it."
SUPER CAPTION: Major Wirat Poopeangjai, Zoo Director.

A poll of the couple's fans proves the point.

SOUNDBITE:(Thai)
"Susu's like me, a woman, and what woman likes her husband to have a lover?"
SUPER CAPTION: orangutan fan

SOUNDBITE:(Thai)
"It's great for Mike; he'll be very happy. But I think Susu's going to be lonely once Malee arrives."
SUPER CAPTION: orangutan fan

VOX POP 3:(Thai)
"I don't agree with it, I don't agree at all."
SUPER CAPTION: orangutan fan.

According to one wildlife expert, the orangutans are just doing what orangutans do.

SOUNDBITE:(English)
"They love Mike and Susu so much that they've got some misconceptions here somewhere. They are animals and they live their own lives, and it doesn't matter if they're in a zoo or in the wild. They have their own inborn traits and habits, and the male orangutan is randy."
SUPER CAPTION: Leonie Vajjajiva, Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand.

It's not easy to meet Malee. You need a boat. But there's no doubt she's eager for company.

She lives free on an island in the grounds of a factory, 950 kilometres (590 miles) south of the capital, Bangkok.

Her owner is convinced she knows why she has sparked such an outcry.

Malee's appearance on the scene has touched a raw nerve among Thai women, all too familiar with the subject of the "mia noi", the kept mistress - a deeply ingrained national tradition.

SOUNDBITE:(Thai)
"It's immoral to have many wives. But in our society it has been permitted in such a way, it's been kept secret but it's a fact we know and are not prepared to admit. By having this issue about Malee we are actually seeing a big response because it's a reflection of the serious nature of the problem."
SUPER CAPTION: Sirichok Sopha, Malee's owner.


As for Mike, he has just one comment.

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