Mak tae

The film was originally supposed to be released in May, but Laos launched an informal diplomatic protest after the movie was screened in advance for the Lao Embassy, and the movie was shelved for several months. Laos complained that the much-hyped movie, originally about the Lao football (soccer) team going to the World Cup was insulting to Lao people, and showed the country in a negative light. The movie was re-edited and a painstaking effort to replace all references to Laos with the fictional country of 'Arvee'. All images of Lao flags were digitally removed. The one remaining element was the Lao language (which is also spoken in Northeastern Thailand) of the 'Arvee' players. Without editing, the film (very expensive by Thai standards) likely would never have been released in theatres.