WWE Comes to Bhutan

Bhutan was first introduced to television in 1999. How long will it take for America's Top Model to destroy Bhutan's children? Let's ask the editor of the state-owned propaganda vehicle!

"I hate television," said Chencho Tshering, acting managing director of Kuensel, the state-owned newspaper, reminiscing about a recent night when the cable service went down.

His wife was deprived of her Hindi soap operas and his three daughters missed "Friends" and the Cartoon Network, but the whole family came together and started talking about the past.

"That was the best night I can remember since 1999," he said.

Because in Bhutan, only cable outages can deactivate televisions. The country's "Information and Communication Minister" agrees with Tshering, explaining that television "raises your expectations, probably making you more unhappy." The Bhutanese government was moved to ban a sports channel after a "craze" for American professional wrestling (our finest export!) swept the country. And yet it seems that actual Bhutanese people love their idiot boxes:

The people of Bhutan do not seem to agree. A study carried out by the information ministry in 2003 found that many people felt television had broadened their minds.

More than 66 percent said television had had a positive impact on society, while just 7.3 percent disagreed…

Back in Sobsa, her teeth stained red with chewing betel nut and her feet caked with mud, Om disagrees with the TV bashers.

Every night she escapes to Bollywood films of Salman Khan, to wildlife documentaries or American war movies.

"Without television, life is quite boring here," she said. "It is good to see the outside world. I've seen Japanese farmers cultivating rice, and it's almost the same as we do it here."

Whole fantastic thing here.