The government organizer of a pre-dawn Sunday run apologized to the public today for setting off fireworks at 3am.
Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan said Monday that he was sorry for the lack of consideration and sensitivity shown by kicking off the Amazing Thailand Marathon Bangkok with loud fire bursts that lasted about two minutes.
The fireworks were criticized online for disturbing the peace at such an early hour. Some netizens claimed the fireworks affected students in the area who had exams to sit for that day.
The Sunday run began at Rajamangala National Stadium and ended at the Democracy Monument. Organizers said about 28,000 runners participated.
https://twitter.com/PukkeeIntira/status/1223703628898131968
The explosive wake-up sent annoyed and irritated residents online to call out the event, sending #RunThroughCity atop Sunday’s trending Twitter hashtags.
“Hello, I wanna sleep!” user @PukkeeIntira tweeted.
@Yellowbart1 reached even further, tying together the various crises plaguing the city to condemn the decision.
“Amazing Thailand! Asia’s No. 1 strongest health security. During the #conoravirus outbreak across the world, they’ve decided to light fireworks to cause air pollution and disturb many ppl at 3am. WTF is wrong with this country…” Yellowbart1 wrote.
The chairman of sporting event organizer Thailand Tri-League also issued an online apology. Kobkiat Sangwanich claimed that the main purpose of the fireworks was to signal staff and volunteers that the run was about to begin.
“I made a mistake. I wasn’t being careful. I was reckless,” Kobkiat wrote. “I’m so sorry again. This is the mistake I own alone. This will be my lesson forever.”
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