An official culture ministry website returned to the web Monday afternoon after vanishing for some hours after it was criticized for describing suicide by hanging among the benefits of a traditional garment.
M-culture.go.th had earlier vanished several hours after the nation’s top custodian of culture, Ittipol Khunpluem, said he ordered the offending description removed from the site after it was called out as “inappropriate.”
Ittipol said it was an error that the official website listed “hang by the neck (when you run out of options)” as the 28th benefit to one-piece waistcloths known as pha kao ma following more benign applications such as tablecloths, headbands and sun shades.
Pha kao ma are colorful checkered fabrics widely worn by men around their waists or neck. While they have certainly been used in suicides, the offending 2015 entry (now memory-holed) struck people as a prank rather than a record of cultural anthropology.
Ittipol did not elaborate further on the nature of the “error.” Asked by a reporter if he would find the person responsible, he said there was no need to. He asked the public to contact the ministry instead if they find more “errors” again in the future.
