Death threats for Icelandic ‘monks’

YouTube screenshot

Former stars of the ‘12:00’ comedy group of the Commercial College of Iceland (‘Versl­un­ar­skóli Íslands’) have received death threats and declarations of war from irate viewers in Thailand. A sketch published three years ago, entitled ‘Monks’, appears to have been rediscovered and is causing a stir among those who interpret the sketch as an affront to Buddhism.

Negative reactions

The sketch shows a group of rowdy Buddhists on a trip to Iceland. The YouTube video was published yesterday on the Coconuts Bangkok website, who reported that some viewers had found the material to be blasphemous and an attempt to belittle the Buddhist faith. The item spread to other Thai media and the video has now garnered over 200,000 YouTube hits.

“Never our intention to offend”

According to Nökkvi Fjalar Orrason, one of the comedians starring in the video, the intention was never to belittle Buddhism and the group regrets that the sketch has been interpreted in this way. The ‘monks’ are keen to make it clear that they never set out to offend the Buddhist religion and are now working on a statement regarding the video. This will include an English translation of the lyrics of the song to ensure there are no misunderstandings.

But isn’t the group happy to see the YouTube video get so many hits? “No, we are not happy,” replies Orrason, categorically. “It was never our intention to belittle anybody and we hope we can get this message across.”

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RYfRzay45FE" width="560"></iframe><div id="embedded-remove"> <p> </p> </div>

Weather

Partly cloudy

Today

4 °C

Partly cloudy

Tomorrow

1 °C

Clear sky

Sunday

-1 °C

Warning: Yellow More