Thai Censor Chops End of Da Vinci Code

BANGKOK -- Thais may not be able to see the "The Da Vinci Code" movie after a police-run censorship board ordered the last 10 minutes cut and some sub-titles changed before it is shown in the largely Buddhist country.

The distributor of the film, which has triggered protests around the world for suggesting Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and they established a dynasty, said on Wednesday it would not bow to the order and appealed.

"We have appealed the censorship board's order since the message from the producer is clear that we won't chop the film," Arm Charoensiri of distributor Sony Pictures Releasing International told Reuters.

The censor board ordered the cut on Tuesday, two days before the movie was due to open in Thai cinemas, in deference to protests from four Christian groups who met the censors along with representatives of Columbia Pictures, the producer.

The board ordered the excision of the final scenes because they were "inappropriate," affecting the beliefs of Christians, censor Chavana Phavakanant was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying. No more details were given.

Thai sub-titles would need to be re-edited and there would have to be warning notices for viewers before the screening that the film was based on fiction, The Nation newspaper quoted Chavana as saying.

The appeal panel, also to be chaired by a senior policeman, was expected to produce its decision later on Wednesday.

Hollywood director Ron Howard's adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller has triggered a wave of protests among Christians for suggesting Jesus married and established a dynasty which the Roman Catholic Church stopped at nothing to try to cover up.

Calls by the Vatican to boycott the movie and a boom in religious publishing aimed at debunking the novel have given studio Sony Pictures the kind of publicity money can't buy.