Netizens have slammed Thai press for their lack of respect and morality after several reporters flooded through protective barriers to photograph the lifeless body of actor Thridsadee “Por” Sahawong.
As the popular actor’s body was being transported out of the hospital into a van, which was taking him back to his hometown in Buriram province, dozens of disrespectful reporters snuck through the barriers and pushed in front of Por’s family and a monk, invited for a religious ceremony to guide Por’s spirit, to snap photos.
Click here to see the disturbing photo of the incident.
They also photographed Por’s two-year-old daughter Malee at the hospital.
The photo of the incident went viral and sparked online criticism of the Thai press. Famous director Suvinit Pornavalai also went to Facebook to condemn the media.
“The reporters destroyed the barriers. The sheet that covered his face almost came off. The monk was pushed off. #ThisIsShit,” he wrote.
“Don’t blame them. It’s their job. Por’s family should let the reporters go into the cremation chamber with Por so they can get a good shot there too,” the top comment under Suvinit’s post said.
An online petition condemning the press and demanding them to “adopt a moral code or at least some manners” has received over 20,000 signatures so far.
“In this campaign, we talk about how news agents carried out their reporting on Por Thridsadee. I feel that taking photos of Mali (Por’s daughter) was a violation of privacy and staying at the hospital to continue reporting caused disturbance to other patients,” the petition says.
“Finally, the media went too far in violating the family’s privacy by going close up to Por’s corpse to get a good photo, causing trouble for hospital staff.”
“If we ignore this and let this type of action continues, anyone can call themselves ‘press’ if they have a camera in their hands.”
Meanwhile, popular Facebook pages also released illustrations to mock the incident, such as Pixel Crazy 8bit and Contrast, who compared foreign and Thai ways of reporting.
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