The Immigration Bureau today terminated the visas of two longtime undocumented migrants – a Hungarian and Italian – after they were shame-zoned for touching and poking marine life with a selfie stick off Koh Phangan.
In addition to harassing the deep dwellers, Francesco Simonetti and Attila Ott had violated the terms of their tourist visas and would not be allowed to return, according to bureau spokesman Col. Pakapong Saiubon.
Both worked on the island, where 28-year-old Simonetti owned a restaurant and Ott, 45, taught scuba.
They were branded asshats online several days ago after posting a YouTube clip of themselves touching, wielding and poking many sea creatures living in protected waters off the island. Marine officials quickly filed complaints against them, and their succinctly titled Night diving at Ko Phangan, Thailand video posted one week ago is no longer available.
The two told police they wanted to publicize the beautiful, flourishing sea to help attract tourists and divers back to Thailand when borders reopen in October. They said they were very sorry.
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