Lady Gaga Fans Gush, Critics Blast Fake-Watch Tweet: Bangkok

[webfact]

BORN THIS WAY BALL

Lady Gaga fans gush, critics blast fake-watch Tweet

Veena Thoopkrajae

The Nation, Agencies

Lady Gaga fans camp out in front of Rajamangala National Stadium, hoping to be the first inside to win the prize of meeting Lady Gaga in person at her concert tomorrow.

BANGKOK: -- From the moment she stepped off her chartered Boeing 747 at Don Mueang Airport, Lady Gaga became the talk of Bangkok, thanks to her fashion-magazine looks and an outrageous remark on Twitter that she wanted to buy counterfeit watches.

"I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex," Gaga tweeted shortly after her arrival on Wednesday evening ahead of tonight's "Born This Way Ball" concert at Rajamangala National Stadium.

Many were angered by the singer's remark on Twitter, where she has 24 million followers. Some fans called it offensive, insulting and bad for the Thailand's image.

"We are more civilised than you think," tweeted DJ Suharit Siamwalla, who has a ticket to tonight's show but now plans to boycott it.

"She came to our home, but instead of admiring us she insulted us," a commentator on the Pantip.com Web forum said.

However, TV host Woody Milintajinda said on his show that Gaga was just kidding around and that it was normal for her to say provocative things.

While in Hong Kong, she made a similar remark on Twitter about buying counterfeit goods.

Former singer and university lecturer Kalyakorn Naksompop had a different view, saying on Twitter: "If Gaga supports fake Rolex in Thailand, I bet she also supports the illegal copies of her album. Such an ignorant comment!"

"Switzerland collapses," was the light-hearted response from Abigail Haworth, senior international editor at Marie Claire USA, in reference to the Swiss maker of Rolex watches.

Another Thai Twitter user, Suchita (@choochiiz), joked: "I want to go to Gaga's concert so I can throw fake Rolex at her! Then she won't have to buy one."

At the airport, Gaga was welcomed by thousands of fans in fancy costumes. With a ginger-dyed bouffant hairstyle and face hidden by black sunglasses, the singer herself wore a snug-fitting floor-length black latex dress designed by Atusko Kudo Latex Couture London. The outfit was accessorised with a diamond necklace and matching bracelets. Accompanied by bodyguards and police, she briefly greeted fans and posed for photos before getting into a car under police escort.

"My hand was shaking when I wanted to take her photo but suddenly she grabbed my hand and took my photo with her," said a fan club member who got her shot with Gaga at Don Mueang.

Lady Gaga is staying at the five-star St Regis Bangkok Hotel, where more fans gathered. The singer signed autographs and hugged one female fan who left in tears. Gaga later headed to the famous New Calypso Bangkok Cabaret at the Asia Hotel. Hitting the 9.45pm show, she was back in her hotel room by 11.

Her quick night out was meant to be secret, but it was made public by a cabaret performer who captured the pop star's photo and posted it on the "Thailand Loves Lady Gaga" Facebook page, which is "liked" by more than 22,000 users.

And while Gaga might want a fake Rolex, there won't be any fake tickets to her concert, with a bar-code system being used to scan each ticket.

A crew of more than 1,000 has been working to prepare Rajamangala National Stadium for the big event, and police have stepped up security and traffic-control measures. For the biggest concert ever put on by promoter BEC-Tero, props and gear have been hauled in by three 747 aircraft and by sea in 23 shipping containers. One piece of equipment was so large that a gate at the stadium had to be removed to fit it in.

Fans have camped outside the stadium for days, hoping to be first inside and win the prize of meeting the Lady Gaga in person.

With her provocative lyrics, outspoken views on sexuality and revealing costumes, Lady Gaga has stirred controversy across Asia. Catholic groups in South Korea and the Philippines have protested against her concerts and in Indonesia, hardline Muslims have tried to have her banned. It's still not known whether police will issue a permit for the Jakarta concert on June 3. After Bangkok, she heads to Singapore.

-- The Nation 2012-05-25

[mca]

"We are more civilised than you think," tweeted DJ Suharit Siamwalla, who has a ticket to tonight's show but now plans to boycott it.

Any comment would be superfluous.....

Edited May 24, 2012 by mca

[xthAi76s]

LMAO!! Score one for the home team. Great comment. I'm starting to admire Gaga now.

Many were angered by the singer's remark on Twitter, where she has 24 million followers. Some fans called it offensive, insulting and bad for the Thailand's image.

What is worse for Thailand's image is ... all the stuff that happens in Thailand like the sizzling illegal goods trade that has been going on long enough (say the past 2 decades) that it is world renowned. Thank goodness she didn't mention anything about the sex trade or this little country would have been up in arms. They are so overly sensitive here about image. Here's a tip: if you are worried about your image, then CLEAN IT UP.

These comments would tend to come from two kinds of Thai people.

1) the moneyed, English-speaking, partially foreign educated Thais who MUST refuse to believe that Thailand is still in the dark ages so that they can justify their position in what they want to believe is a modern, fair, competitive and open society. They certainly do live in a Thailand completely different form most of the other population.

2) the terribly educated but deeply nationalistic Somchai who probably can't tell you one important recent event about any country outside of Thailand that doesn't involve consumerism. This Somchai is very deeply proud of most anything Thai and seems to find it very difficult to find anything in the Kingdom to criticize.

"We are more civilised than you think," tweeted DJ Suharit Siamwalla

Actually, no, you are not, and, if you actually knew what most of the world thinks of you, you might REALLY be upset.

"She came to our home, but instead of admiring us she insulted us,"

Well, it is what it is.

Edited May 24, 2012 by xthAi76s

[waza]

Her career is based on controversy but then the Thais complain when she is! Go figure.

[StefanBBK]

Lot of fuzz about nothing. Totally innocent comment. How many tourists would say the same really?

If she wanted to be controversial with her tweet, she could have written some other truth, that embarrasses the country more than faked Rolexes... Perhaps just one or two of the BP headlines.

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect App

[barefoot1988]

lmao . . . just over the comment on fake watches. wonder what will their reaction of others speaking on prostitution, transsexuals and drugs.

[laurentbkk]

its always funny to see how serious Thais become when an international icon is talking about the TRUTH ....and nothing than the TRUTH ...oh my goodness ..how shocking ..... I will boycott the concert ...bla bla bla .....if you dont want any one to talk about fake rolex or other watches ..clean your pavement ... intellectual properties here means nothing .Thais for sure have NO sense of humor. so we cannot talk about prostitution ? fake Gucci shirts ? and illegal music CDs ? LOL what a joke .....

[rkidlad]

Fake watches are sold here in Thailand and that's a fact. Maybe if DJ Suharit Siamwalla feels so strongly about this, he should campaign to stop fake merchandise being sold in Thailand. He is a DJ after all, so he would have a lot of clout and influence.

How brave and loyal some of these nationalists are when it comes to sticking up for their country and people. Just say good things all the time, and never address the real issues which would actually help this country and these people you love so much. Hypocrisy and ignorance and its very best.

[Macmundi]

Her music and looks are rubbish, but she does come pretty straightforward!!!

[dsprtliving]

I would say that this knee jerk reaction to her tweet is in and of itself a part of the problem here in Thailand. All to often the solution here is ignoring a problem...or pretending that something obvious doesn't exist. It's all about the ridiculous concept of "saving face" at all costs, and sadly only adds to the problems here, that the international community is well aware of....whether some Thai citizens want to accept that or not to "save face" is irrelevant.

[draftvader]

Gotta love the University Lecturer Kalyakorn Naksompop's retort though.

"If Gaga supports fake Rolex in Thailand, I bet she also supports the illegal copies of her album. Such an ignorant comment!"

Nice to see a keen minded statement in the press here in Thailand.

[DP25]

Manufactured outrage to create stories and hype and website traffic. A handful of people made comments on twitter, oh noes! 99% of Thais don't give a $%#@ what she said. No one is boycotting. No one is protesting her like they did in other countries. No one cares. The only thing most Thais would think is that it is very strange for a rich celebrity to want to buy a fake watch, as that is something for poor people. Most Thais wouldn't understand how it could be a novelty item for a rich foreigner.

[richard_smith237]

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I suspect her publicity machine has generated this somewhat ironic comment with a deeper and clever message regarding the abundance of pirated goods (also pirated copies of her music) - A clever and publicity drawing attack on the authorities for permitting counterfeit and copy rights infringement to exist to such a degree.

If some people are getting offended by this then they really need to learn to accept criticism and the realities of Thailand's tolerance of illegal activity.

[carra]

Thais with their head in the sand again, one walk round MBK or Pantip will show the array of counterfeit good here, if they don't want this reputation then do something about it rather than take money from the people selling it to allow them to sell it.

[Unkomoncents]

What "image"?! There is no way to hurt the international public's impression (propagated most recently by "The Hangover 2") of Thailand as one of the world's best places to buy women and children for sex, hide from prosecution, and otherwise behave badly. It is always interesting to see the extent to which many East Asian peoples are willing to ignore and suppress obvious realities. North Korea is the most extreme example of this but Thailand is not far behind. It's not easy to find people that are truly this lacking in any form of internal mirror. If only they knew how funny they can be. "Yes, Suhart, now go play with your iPhone while the rest of us figure out how to sell you more things you don't need."

Edited May 25, 2012 by Unkomoncents

[chinook]

They are sooooooooooo pathetic, ranting away about the Thai image on their laptops with cracked OS........

[Thai at Heart]

"Musician discovers counterfeiting industry and cross-dressing phenomenon in Asian country"

Researchers astounded that they hadn't noticed before.

They don't read "The emporer has no clothes" in school do they? And they wonder why Thailand has an international reputation for certain things in the world? Maybe it is because they are true? The ability to be so ridiculously thin skinned in this country astounds me sometimes.

[KeyserSoze01]

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I suspect her publicity machine has generated this somewhat ironic comment with a deeper and clever message regarding the abundance of pirated goods (also pirated copies of her music) - A clever and publicity drawing attack on the authorities for permitting counterfeit and copy rights infringement to exist to such a degree.

If some people are getting offended by this then they really need to learn to accept criticism and the realities of Thailand's tolerance of illegal activity.

I agree and she caused Thai's a loss of face and embarrassment in their own press. Ain't it grand.

[Thai at Heart]

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I suspect her publicity machine has generated this somewhat ironic comment with a deeper and clever message regarding the abundance of pirated goods (also pirated copies of her music) - A clever and publicity drawing attack on the authorities for permitting counterfeit and copy rights infringement to exist to such a degree.

If some people are getting offended by this then they really need to learn to accept criticism and the realities of Thailand's tolerance of illegal activity.

I agree and she caused Thai's a loss of face and embarrassment in their own press. Ain't it grand.

Do Thai's tell each other that their fly is undone?

[canman]

Gotta love the University Lecturer Kalyakorn Naksompop's retort though.

"If Gaga supports fake Rolex in Thailand, I bet she also supports the illegal copies of her album. Such an ignorant comment!"

Nice to see a keen minded statement in the press here in Thailand.

Yes the only comment which made any sense and not driven by immature xenophobic loss of face type thought processes.

[givenall]

What, Fake Rolex in Thailand. I thought they were all real ones in MBK selling for 1000Bth

Edited May 25, 2012 by givenall

[Soupdragon]

They are sooooooooooo pathetic, ranting away about the Thai image on their laptops with cracked OS........

Actually I recently bought a laptop that came without an OS. The store, one of Thailand biggest electrical retailers not only offered to install a pirated OS they were unable to tell me where I could buy a genuine OS.

[Fatherfluffybottom]

Ah He is alright that lady Gaga fella

[infernalman7]

There is this big movement on the Thai Twittraverse right now about how some Thais fail to perceive what Thailand's good at: being the brothel capital of the world and the fake goods capital.

If you can read Thai, I suggest you all head over to Twitter right now the debate is just epic and LOL.

[Misterwhisper]

With all this stupid nationalism, xenophobia and hypocritical image obsession displayed by some locals, I find find more than fitting that the concert apparently is called "The Born This Way Ball"...

Also quite surprised that nobody hung themselves up over her comment about "50,000 screaming Thai monsters" - unless 'monsters' is simply pop lingo for 'loving fans', of course.

[GeorgeO]

Fake watches are sold here in Thailand and that's a fact. Maybe if DJ Suharit Siamwalla feels so strongly about this, he should campaign to stop fake merchandise being sold in Thailand. He is a DJ after all, so he would have a lot of clout and influence.

How brave and loyal some of these nationalists are when it comes to sticking up for their country and people. Just say good things all the time, and never address the real issues which would actually help this country and these people you love so much. Hypocrisy and ignorance and its very best.

Agree entirely.

Those who are so disgusted by such an innocent (if intentionally provocative) comment of this nature are undoubtedly the Hi-So crowd who can afford a real Rolex.

These are, however, the very same group of people who have been responsible for killing people on the roads (be it through their flash cars or underage drivers) and nothing is ever heard of them being brought to justice.

This country also still has many of its indigenous population living rough because their houses were submerged in the (avoidable) floods, and little has been done to help them over the past year.

Perhaps these complainants would have been more impressed with Gaga if she had raised issues of this nature...!

[NCFC]

Ah He is alright that lady Gaga fella

Yeah, I always thought Lady Gaga was a ladyboy. Thailand would be his spiritual home.

[Stjohnm]

Tongue planted firmly in cheek some people have no sense of humour

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[jeffgood]

If they are that embarrassed about counterfeit goods being famously available on the black market in Thailand why do they not do something about it, instead of getting offended when someone mentions it?

[gohmer]

Maybe Lady Gaga was being sarcastic in light of the deep root thievery of people who steal everything they can get their hands on - particularly copyrighted music. Maybe she was mocking Thailand. Maybe she has a darn good point. Maybe if more Thais mocked Thailand, Thailand wouldn't be mocked by the rest of the world as a cheap place to vacation, a cheap place to get laid, a cheap place to buy illegal stuff, just a plain cheap place.