Photo: Christophe Archambault, AFP
The photo of an anti-government protester who faced police tear gas wielding nothing but a fire extinguisher – while wearing nothing but his underwear – has become Thailand’s Internet-celebrity-of-the-moment.
The anti-government protest group honored Mr. Underpants as a hero, with rumours already lionizing his near-naked encounter as a fight to the death.
But the man in the photos, 33-year-old Weerachart ‘Kob’ Premkamol, is very much alive. The professional driver-motorcycle taxi driver explains that after removing his clothes to rinse his body of tear gas in the middle of Ratchadamnoen Avenue, he charged back into the fray after seeing an older woman who appeared injured.
“It happened on Saturday,” Kob said. “I joined the mob early in the morning and got hit by tear gas, so I had to take my clothes off and wash myself. Then I saw this old lady who was on the ground because the effect of tear gas.”
What happened next established his iconic status. Loading up with 15 fire extinguishers, Kob charged back to the front line to help the woman up and then proceeded to blow smoke at the cops from behind a barrier.
“When police saw me, they were like ‘Are you crazy? Why aren’t you wearing pants?’” he said, adding that after he returned later, the police had a new nickname for the chubbie demonstrator.
“They referred to me as ‘fattie’ ever since,” he said.
The photos have been shared among Thai netizens. Once-famous ‘90s singer Jetrin “Jay Jetrin” Wattanasin was impressed enough with his bold move to grant Mr. Underpants lifetime access to his concerts. Which might have been a not-subtle signal from Jay that he wishes someone would book him for a gig.
After recovering from the tear gas, Kob was admitted to the hospital, but returned to Ratchadamnoen three hours later to announce reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated.
Apart of being featured on ASTV, Kob is probably mostly unaware of his sudden infamy – he hardly uses the Internet and doesn’t own a mobile phone.
