What if we told you there will be no more photos of Asoke Cat in your news feed? We can only imagine the waves of shock and horror it would cause.
Cue waves of shock and horror: Nutch Prasopsin, the woman who took Asoke Cat from Asoke and maintainer of a popular photo feed of her celeb kitties, decided to pull the plug on social media after netizens criticised how she cares for the cats.
Nutch closed the popular Facebook page, as well as her Instagram and Twitter accounts last night in response to criticism on Pantip that she is exploiting the animals’ celebrity by forcing them to make public appearances and receive an untold number of squeezes from strangers.
Nutch had started her social media platforms long before rescuing a wounded Asoke Cat in November, adding Bangkok’s most popular celebrity animal to her menagerie of three Scottish Folds and one Calico, which already enjoyed their own followings online.
The main complaint made online is that the cats are still just cats, and should not be paraded at public events, which causes them stress.
In recent months, Nutch has made several appearances with her animals, including an opportunity for fans of Asoke Cat to meet the handsome tabby as he was no longer available at his former haunt of BTS Asoke.
These appearances seem to have been organized to help raise funds for animal welfare.
Nutch and her cat Suea Krong at Pet Expo 2014. Photo: Pantip
In a previous exchange, Nutch told the online community the money earned from selling merchandise goes toward animal shelters, but she does not feel the need to post about every baht she gives out.
Nutch also said she makes sure the animals are happy and comfortable, saying she knows her pets the best, and they are watched closely when making a public appearance.
The Pantip thread broke out into a full flame war between Nutch supporters and critics who felt the need to to point out every complaint they could think of.
End result, an unhappy Nutch decided to pull the plug.
An acquaintance of hers announced via Twitter that Nutch closed the page because running it doesn’t make her happy anymore.
ภาพเมื่อก่อน : แมวอโศกนอนเดียวดาย ภาพปัจจุบัน : แมวอโศกได้รับการเลี้ยงดูและได้รับอ้อมกอดอันอบอุ่นจาก @thetigernutch pic.twitter.com/1YeIgUJIAe
— วินัย พัดสอน (@WinaiPadsorn) June 4, 2014
We personally encountered Nutch at Asoke Cat’s first fan meeting in March and can only say that after a brief conversation, she seemed to be a lovely cat lady with genuine affection for her animals.
Although the page has been closed and the damage is done, some sort of pent up rage is still feeding a cascade of fear and loathing on Pantip’s thread, which now exceeds 700 comments and is still growing.
We do hope cool heads and reason prevail on the social network, but barring that happening, we just want some more catnip and AC selfies.
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