Police to summon Chinese TikToker over negative videos on Bangkok
Thai police have threatened to take legal action against a Chinese social media idol for saying a Bangkok district famous for its night life is not safe, although they admitted they did not know yet how they would proceed against the woman.
Pol Maj-General Phanthana Nutchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said police now know the whereabouts of the Chinese woman who posted a negative clip about Soi Nana on Sukhumvit Road.
Phanthana, however, admitted that the Chinese tourist had the right to post a clip criticising Thailand. Police had yet to consider the legal aspects of taking action against her.
Phanthana said police would summon the tourist for interrogation to know about her motive.
He was commenting on a post on Facebook page, Lui Chin (Fighting Chinese). On Wednesday, the page posted that a Chinese TikTok user, who is a star on Douyin, a Chinese social network, had posted a clip discrediting Thailand by saying it was unsafe for women to travel alone on Soi Nana.
On Thursday, Lumpini Police Station sent a report on the case to the Metropolitan Police Bureau.
In the report, the station identified the Chinese woman as Ziyu Wang, 28, who entered Thailand via the Suvarnabhumi checkpoint on November 2. Her visa expires in October next year.
The report quoted the Chinese woman as speaking on her video clip that she would risk herself to warn women about what would happen if they visited the soi alone.
After a foreign tourist greeted her, she walked away and said on camera that she could have been helplessly pulled away by the foreigner.
“A moment ago that man said to me: ‘How are you today?’ But I could say had he pulled me away, I would not have been able to escape. You, women, if you are here and if you are approached, I can guarantee you won’t be able to escape.”
The clip was another instance of negative publicity undermining Thailand’s soft power, according to tourism operators in the country. They complain that the government’s free visa measure did not help much in bringing Chinese tourists because social networks in China were flooded with false news and negative news about the kingdom.
