Man charged for posting video of topless dancer
POLICE filed a charge under the Computer Crimes Act against a man who posted a video clip on social media of topless female dancers shot during last Songkran, while the man maintained he had posted it to serve as a cautionary tale to others.
As revellers continued to celebrate Songkran yesterday, Bangkok police had a brief meeting with business operators from the Royal City Avenue (RCA) area, where a water-festival celebration was due to end last night, to warn them against allowing nude or “indecent” performances.
Acting city police chief Sanit Mahathawon told a press conference yesterday about the arrest of Jakpatsorn Akaraphokinan, whose “obscene” video clip, uploaded on Wednesday and remaining on social media until Thursday, undermined the police campaign for traditional Songkran celebrations and could cause copycat actions.
He said the clip was also posted with false information – a claim that the topless dancing had taken place this year at a party at RCA, when in fact it occurred last year.
If found guilty of the charge, Jakpatsorn could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined up to Bt100,000. Sanit said Jakpatsorn’s friend Phuwit Sathaporn, who appeared in the clip with the female presenter, was fined Bt500 for obscene behaviour.
Jakpatsorn insisted that he shared the clip only among friends as a cautionary tale and had said it was an old clip but people then copied and shared it to others, and twisted the information to claim it was shot this Songkran.
Jakpatsorn was later released on bail of Bt100,000.
Meanwhile, Muang Chiang Mai Police Station superintendent Pol Colonel Weerayut Prasopchokchai affirmed yesterday that only four foreign Songkran revellers had been fined at the precinct for indecency from April 11 and 14. He said 60 people – mostly Thais, who should be fully aware of the alcohol ban at Songkran venues – were each fined Bt3,000 on Wednesday and Thursday for drinking booze at such places.
He said police yesterday prepared 20 T-shirts to give to any indecently clad tourists to wear after being warned.
Pol Colonel Piyapan Pattarapongsin, superintendent of the Chiang Mai Traffic Police, said this year coincided with Chiang Mai’s 720th anniversary, so the authorities emphasised that people should wear polite clothes and refrain from obscenity, as seen on signs at Chiang Mai Airport and various other places.
Regarding the incident on Tuesday in which a shirtless foreign man was fined Bt100 – for saw police criticised for overreacting – Piyapan explained that the man behaved inappropriately during the opening ceremony for the 720th-anniversary celebration and so police took action, fining him at a minimum rate.
