As for the musical "King and I," I came across this article The King and I: Fact or Fiction?:
Anna Leonowens is known throughout the world as the governess in the Court of Siam (now known as Thailand) due to the popularity of the musical and movie "The King and I". Many people believed that they were watching a true story, not only regarding the antics of the king but also the importance of Anna in the court. The film, starring Yul Brynner, so insulted the Thai people, that it was banned from being shown in Thailand on grounds of historical and cultural distortions. Now, a remake of the movie has been made by 20th Century Fox called "Anna and the King". Can Hollywood make amends for past misdeeds or will history repeat itself?
This website is brought to you by ThaiStudents.com and is produced by students and teachers at Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan, Thailand. The purpose of this web site is to show the world that "The King and I" and "Anna and the King" are fictionalised stories and that there is little truth within these movies.
LEGAL NOTES: "Anna and the King" was banned from being released in Thailand in 1999. At one stage, pirated Video CD's were being sold in Thailand. One government official was reported in the newspapers as saying that the people could do what they liked in the privacy of their own home. However, the police put their foot down and threatened to prosecute not only the people that were selling the pirate CD, but also anyone that owned copies at home. Although we had seen "Anna and the King" during a school trip to Singapore, in the course of our research we had also bought copies of all the different versions. For a while there was a cause for concern. A movie magazine in the UK reported: "The popular Thai movie website www.thaistudents.com may come under threat from the authorities because of content that includes hundreds of pictures from the movie and also downloads of video clips and trailers." Fortunately, nothing happened and we were able to continue to present both sides of the argument. We believe that in order to be fair, we should give equal space to both the supporters of the film-makers and to those opposed. Views expressed in this web site don't necessarily mirror the views of the owners of Sriwittayapaknam School or Thai Student Associations around the world.
~Masato