In what might be the sweetest Instagram account you’ve ever seen, a Thai woman finds a unique way of seeing the sights of Thailand with her long distance love. She inserts his passport photo into every image on her Instagram account “Abdullahwishyouwerehere“, turning him into a virtual tourist and her Intagram feed into part love letter, part art project.
When Poi met Abdullah while studying abroad, she could have never predicted that decades-old international feud that took place before she was born would test their romance. Shortly after meeting, they discovered that their home countries of Thailand and Saudi Arabia were not on good terms, to put it mildly.
The Blue Diamond Affair sounds more like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster than a diplomatic stalemate. Yet, this true tale of a jewel heist and murder mystery – involving a Thai gardener, a Saudi royal palace, millions of dollars in priceless jewels and a rare blue diamond – has marred relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia for 25 years. Who knew.
Early this year, Poi returned to Thailand. Since Abdullah’s Saudi Arabian citizenship prevents him from getting a visa to visit, she started this Instagram account dedicated to him so that he could experience the country with her, in a 21st century kind of way.
“He thought I used a photo from the Internet because the beach looked too beautiful. He didn’t believe that I took the photos myself,” said Poi. “So I decided to use his ID photo in my pictures. It’s kind of like he was there as well, like he visited Thailand.”
Watch this romantic, social media love story with a dash of international intrigue on Coconuts TV:
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