.
The family of Myanmar's last king hit out on Sunday at a Thai soap opera inspired by the palace intrigue of their ancestors, accusing Thailand of double standards in how it treats another country's royals.
Soe
Win, the great grandson of Myanmar's last monarch King Thibaw, told AFP
his family were angered by "A Lady's Flame", a new hit prime-time soap
that recounts a bloody dynastic power struggle.
.
The show is set
in a fictional kingdom but almost entirely mimics the final years of the
Konbaung dynasty in the 19th century in the country formerly known as
Burma.
.
It portrays the scheming among a key queen and princesses
who orchestrated the massacre of nearly a hundred people to ensure
Thibaw had no rivals to the throne following his father's death in 1878.
.
While the massacre is historical fact, Thibaw's scions are upset with
their family's portrayal by a country that shields its own monarchy from
any criticism
"We have asked Thais this, would they accept it if
one of our companies here did the same thing about their country," Soe
Win told AFP.
.
"If no action is taken, we will ask for help from their (Thailand's) royalty," he added.
Neighbours Thailand and Myanmar were bitter rivals for centuries and fought a number of bloody wars.
.
One of the most momentous battles saw Myanmar forces attack the city of
Ayutthaya, second capital of the Siamese kingdom, and raze it to the
ground in 1767, forcing the inhabitants to abandon the city.
.
In
Thai historical soaps and dramas the Burmese are often portrayed as
having villainous or treacherous tendencies, something that has
previously caused anger in Thailand's western neighbor.
.
Soe Win said he was particularly incensed by scenes in "A Lady's Flame" in which royal family members slapped each other.
.
"It's quite insulting, as if we are wild," he said.
For many Burmese the fall of its monarchy at the hands of the British
just a few years after Thibaw took the throne was a deep psychological
scar.
.
He died in exile in India though there are plans to return his remains to his homeland.
His family are playing a much more visible role now that the military
who suppressed them have given way to a civilian-led government.
.
Source - TheNation
