Two American tourists fined 5000 Baht for 'butt selfie' at Thai temple

[webfact]

Two American tourists fined in Thailand for 'butt selfie' at temple

 

File photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities have fined two American tourists for public indecency for posing for a "butt selfie" in front of a famous Buddhist temple, police said on Wednesday.

 

The two, who police identified as Joseph Dasilva, 38, and Travis Dasilva, 36, were arrested late on Tuesday at an airport in the capital, Bangkok.

 

They were each fined 5,000 baht ($154) for baring their buttocks for a picture taken last week at Bangkok's Wat Arun, or Temple of the Dawn.

 

"The two American citizens have admitted taking the picture," district police chief Jaruphat Thongkomol told Reuters.

 

While Thailand has a reputation for racy night life, the predominantly Buddhist country is deeply conservative and revealing clothing is frowned upon while public nudity is considered offensive.

 

The two men had an Instagram account called traveling_butts which showcased similar selfies taken at tourists sites around the world. The account had more than 14,000 followers but on Wednesday it had been deleted.

 

Jaruphat said the two would also be fined for a similar picture taken at another temple in Bangkok.

 

They were being held at an immigration detention center while police considered a possible violation of Thailand's Computer Crime Act, as the photograph was uploaded online, Jaruphat said.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Suphanida Thakral; Editing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-30

[NCC1701A]

"They were being held at an immigration detention center while police considered a possible violation of Thailand's Computer Crime Act, as the photograph was uploaded online, Jaruphat said."

 

Computer crime act? Then death sentence it is for the Traveling Butt Buddies.

[Jingthing]

Too bad they don't play basketball ... 

[Samui Bodoh]

They are ill-mannered idiots.

 

Take their cash and toss them out. And don't ever let them back in.

[bristolgeoff]

not at a temple wrong place to do that.thais and farang do worse elsewhere for sure.

[ezzra]

50,000 fine should have been more like it, i'm sure they wouldn't have done that in the place they go to worship, what ever their

religion is...

[Ruffian Dick]

This isn't Castro Street, Nancy.

[trogers]

Caught at Don Muang. Apparently, on a flight to the temples of Phnom Penh...

[Boon Mee]

Should have been fined much more than that.

 

Disgusting behavior!

[alfalfa19]

these characters seem quite proud of themselves and their bungholes. 

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

Computer crime act? Then death sentence it is for the Traveling Butt Buddies.

I do think that the death sentence in Thailand is only carried out for bad murders

Or was you joking ?

[dinsdale]

Thai. Assault: Bt500. Farang. Butt flash: Bt5000. Still they're idiots. I challenge them to do this in Saudi Arabia for example. 

[trogers]

3 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Thai. Assault: Bt500. Farang. Butt flash: Bt5000. Still they're idiots. I challenge them to do this in Saudi Arabia for example. 

Would make a fantastic butt photo after a thousand whips...

[captspectre]

that should read two american idiots! not tourists! hope the Thai's throw the book at them and bar them from the country. AND why blank out their faces? surely we would want to know who the fools were so that we could avoid them.

[Muggi1968]

29 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I do think that the death sentence in Thailand is only carried out for bad murders

Or was you joking ?

Thailand have 474 people on the dead row, but have not executed anybody since August 2009.

They are normally changed to ""Life time" at royal birthdays etc...

[sklmeeera]

What a pair of filthy morons . Far too light a sentence . 2 years jail and permanent ban would have been appropriate in this case .

[Muggi1968]

I agree they did something stupid and should have more respect for Thai culture....

But come onnnnnn.....

Most people in Thailand do far worse thing and get away with a 500 Baht fine and a 
 

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The two men had an Instagram account called traveling_butts which showcased similar selfies taken at tourists sites around the world. The account had more than 14,000 followers but on Wednesday it had been deleted.

Unfortunately there still is an instagram account with that name and the pictures at the 2 temples

 

so a fine of 5,000 Baht per day per person that they remain online would be a good idea

[NextStationBangkok]

5000 Baht is a complete joke. Any non-sense person will come to show their b##s and show this.

 

Should be 100,000 Baht fine, plus 6 months jail term for insulting religion.

 

Americans are not afraid of insulting other's beliefs.

[DoctorG]

Tough crowd we have here today

[ratcatcher]

54 minutes ago, captspectre said:

that should read two american idiots! not tourists! hope the Thai's throw the book at them and bar them from the country. AND why blank out their faces? surely we would want to know who the fools were so that we could avoid them.

Meet the DaSilva husband and wife team from California.

Try to avoid them now you know what they look like.

[rickb]

This type of behavior wouldn't be acceptable in the US.  So why would they think they could get away with it in Thailand, or any other country.  Total disrespect for their host country and its people.  

[wcoast]

100,000 for smoking on a beach
5,000 for immorality

Sent from my SM-A910F using Tapatalk

[4MyEgo]

[Juan B Tong]

Memo: To Ministry of Tourism.

 

Please implement sale of 10,000 Bhat "bumm flashing" permits at all notable landmarks and historical places.

 

Suggest promoting bumm flashing tours in any relevant GLBTQ (Fag) social media.

 

 

[sklmeeera]

29 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Meet the DaSilva husband and wife team from California.

Try to avoid them now you know what they look like.

And dont drop anything if you are around them .

[Bill Miller]

The Thai people have a prescribed fine as punishment for public indecency. These two idiots have been caught and fined, and perhaps are liable for another round at another temple.
I wish the yammering homophobes and bigots on TV would give it a break.
If it were a couple of drunken "good old boys" who had pulled this off as a prank would  you then be calling for execution, ten years in jail, 100,000 baht fines? Hell no!
These two bone heads are not the only ones showing their asses in this instance, IMO. The false outrage about it being a "religious site" especially irks me, as if those particular barkers have any least notion what Buddhism is about.
Take their fine money, and throw in a couple of years ban, then move on to actual criminals like murderers and thieves....what a novel idea!

[ratcatcher]

9 minutes ago, Juan B Tong said:

Memo: To Ministry of Tourism.

Please implement sale of 10,000 Bhat "bumm flashing" permits at all notable landmarks and historical places.

Suggest promoting bumm flashing tours in any relevant GLBTQ (Fag) social media.

A 10,000 baht fine for exposing one's BUM is a lot less than the 100,000 baht fine for dropping a FAG on the beach.

Priorities.

[wvavin]

I thought only 2 are showing their bums? Another 5 are going to show too?

[Altalake]

What a pair of jerks. Mannerless oafs.