PHUKET: Slow lorises and iguanas were being abused by photo touts in Patong last night - although there was one more arrest of a loris tout early today.
A casual count of animals at 10pm gave a tally of seven lorises and eight iguanas. An hour later, a Phuketwan reporter was still able to count six lorises and two iguanas.
A brief holiday on Phuket by pop star Rihanna at the weekend produced a series of tweets and Instagram photos highlighting Phuket's sex freak shows and the continuing mistreatment of the lorises, a protected primate.
Corrupt payments are made to ensure that both illegal activities continue in Patong's Soi Bangla, with local police turning a blind eye.
Although the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Somsak Pureesrisak, said yesterday that investigators were looking at making arrests regarding the sex shows, touts were attracting an audience for them in Patong as usual last night.
The arrest of the loris tout came in Soi Crocodile, a lane of bars that runs off Soi Bangla, about 1am. Lieutenant Colonel Pongpichan Chayanonpiriya arrested Pichet Pimrat, 27, from Pitsanulok, and seized a loris.
Two touts were arrested at the weekend after Rihanna posted a ''selfie'' with one of the cuddly creatures on Instagram, where she has 9.7 million followers.
She also sent vulgar tweets of her experience on Phuket, including one that said: Either I was phuck wasted lastnight, or I saw a Thai woman pull a live bird,2 turtles,razors,shoot darts and ping pong, all out of her pu$$y
The photo and the tweets have ignited an international reaction with many Thais indignant that their country is being portrayed in such a poor way.
Hundreds of news outlets around the world have reported Rihanna's experiences, portraying Phuket as a tawdry, sleazy destination.
Animal activists on Phuket are endeavoring to set up a rescue centre for lorises, which cannot be returned to the wild because their canine teeth are snapped off by the touts.
National Geographic weighed in overnight, urging other tourists to note that the lorises are protected and to not follow Rihanna's example.
''There's a part of me that's upset, [but] in a weird sense, [it] helped bring the loris to public consciousness,'' the highly-regarded magazine quoted an anthropologist in the US as saying.
''Rihanna has a much larger following [than a person in the conservation community], The center of the story is that these people were arrested because this is a protected animal.
''That emphasises that these animals aren't something to be photographed with.''
And the swift negative backlash could aid in conservation efforts as well, National Geographic said. However, the magazine made not comment about the Soi Bangla sex shows.
A casual count of animals at 10pm gave a tally of seven lorises and eight iguanas. An hour later, a Phuketwan reporter was still able to count six lorises and two iguanas.
A brief holiday on Phuket by pop star Rihanna at the weekend produced a series of tweets and Instagram photos highlighting Phuket's sex freak shows and the continuing mistreatment of the lorises, a protected primate.
Corrupt payments are made to ensure that both illegal activities continue in Patong's Soi Bangla, with local police turning a blind eye.
Although the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Somsak Pureesrisak, said yesterday that investigators were looking at making arrests regarding the sex shows, touts were attracting an audience for them in Patong as usual last night.
The arrest of the loris tout came in Soi Crocodile, a lane of bars that runs off Soi Bangla, about 1am. Lieutenant Colonel Pongpichan Chayanonpiriya arrested Pichet Pimrat, 27, from Pitsanulok, and seized a loris.
Two touts were arrested at the weekend after Rihanna posted a ''selfie'' with one of the cuddly creatures on Instagram, where she has 9.7 million followers.
She also sent vulgar tweets of her experience on Phuket, including one that said: Either I was phuck wasted lastnight, or I saw a Thai woman pull a live bird,2 turtles,razors,shoot darts and ping pong, all out of her pu$$y
The photo and the tweets have ignited an international reaction with many Thais indignant that their country is being portrayed in such a poor way.
Hundreds of news outlets around the world have reported Rihanna's experiences, portraying Phuket as a tawdry, sleazy destination.
Animal activists on Phuket are endeavoring to set up a rescue centre for lorises, which cannot be returned to the wild because their canine teeth are snapped off by the touts.
National Geographic weighed in overnight, urging other tourists to note that the lorises are protected and to not follow Rihanna's example.
''There's a part of me that's upset, [but] in a weird sense, [it] helped bring the loris to public consciousness,'' the highly-regarded magazine quoted an anthropologist in the US as saying.
''Rihanna has a much larger following [than a person in the conservation community], The center of the story is that these people were arrested because this is a protected animal.
''That emphasises that these animals aren't something to be photographed with.''
And the swift negative backlash could aid in conservation efforts as well, National Geographic said. However, the magazine made not comment about the Soi Bangla sex shows.
Ed, I know you get upset when people say nothing will change but here we go again. It is good you report it, but will things change?
Posted by Fiesty Farang on September 25, 2013 12:20
Editor Comment:
Nothing upsets me. Change will come for sure, FF. The only question is when. The choices for an answer are:
(a) when Thai authorities proactively clean up Phuket to prevent a tourism disaster caused by scams, sleaze and lack of service;
(b) when Thai authorities react, after a tourism disaster that they should have prevented from happening.