Leena Jung — media personality, lawyer, former politician, and longtime publicity hound — may be facing charges for filming a viral video mocking the 13 young men who were trapped in Chiang Rai’s Luang Cave for over two weeks.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has lodged a legal complaint against Jung aka Leena Jungjana, 58, for filming a video at a cave in Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park without permission, according to a statement posted to their official Facebook account.
On Monday, Leena posted a video on YouTube, in which she and five young actors dance and sing inside a cave in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. The song’s lyrics are unmistakably aimed at the Wild Boar football team.
“I’m trapped in the cave! I’m trapped in the cave. I wanna watch the World Cup! I’m trapped in the cave because I wanna be famous!” Leena leads the five teens in singing.
At one point she said to one of the youths in laughter, “Sing! Or I won’t pay you THB500 (US$15).”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-O-mKAwdk
Leena is no stranger to the limelight. The internet personality often raises eyebrows when offering her bizarre takes on the country’s trendy topics in YouTube videos. When she ran for Bangkok governor in 2008, she made global headlines for a publicity stunt in which she “fell” into a smelly canal.
Her cave parody, which has been re-posted and shared all over Facebook, drew a wave of criticism from netizens, some of whom questioned her mental stability.
Beyond the clip being wildly inappropriate, according to Rungroj Autwagoontarin, the director of Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park, it is also illegal, since Leena did not gain permission to film inside the cave, reported Spring News.
Leena could be charged under the National Park Acts for using the national park to benefit herself, a charge punishable with a fine of … THB500. Yep. Not that big.
While the cave is regularly monitored by park authorities, Rungroj alleged that Leena and her team took advantage of a brief moment when officials had to help escort an injured tourist out of the park.
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