ABHISIT'S HAPPY FEET, DRUG SAGA ROLLS ON, SAUCY LOVE SCENE

Former PM's feet don't touch the ground

Abhisit

The oil slick off Koh Samet is hammering the high and mighty in media and political circles alike, a week after the disaster struck.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the scene on Friday to talk to officials involved in the clean-up. 

Many netizens are less interested in the advice he imparted to the government - you should have acted sooner, you need to instil confidence - than in an unflattering image which emerged from his visit.

Mr Abhisit and several members of his team were pictured on a platform on wheels being pulled out of the sea. "He managed to visit Koh Samet without setting his feet on the sand, or even getting wet,'' netizens scoffed.

"This only underlines his image as an elitist who does not get down and dirty with ordinary folk, who won't rise to the spirit of things.''

Some doctored the image to include comments such as: "Why not just stay at home and watch it on TV?'' and "You're carrying on like a TV star!''

Blue Sky satellite TV, a Democrat mouthpiece, slammed the critics, saying the platform was actually a mobile jetty. "The Democrat team chartered a speedboat to take a look at the source of the problem. Normally, a truck tows the platform out to sea to meet boats which come into shore. On the day he visited, the truck was unavailable, and locals had to push him out,'' one Democrat explained.

"But while Mr Abhisit is giving locals encouragement by visiting the scene, where's prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra? Striding the red carpet overseas,'' they scoffed.

Ms Yingluck, just back from a trip to Africa, confirmed yesterday she was resting at home and has no plans to visit the scene of the oil slick. She was more concerned about the threat of protests in Bangkok erupting over the charter bills.

Meanwhile, television presenter Sorayuth Suthassanachinda is under fire for being too kind to PTT Global Chemical Plc over the oil disaster.

Sorayuth took his Channel 3 morning news show, Rueng Lao Chao Nee, to Koh Samet last week to present first-hand coverage of the clean-up after last Saturday's offshore oil spill from a PTT Global Chemical Plc facility.

However, netizens are unhappy that he chose to present the show not from the oil-stricken parts of Samet, such as Ao Phrao on western Samet, but from Ao Wong Duan Beach and Sai Kaew Beach, where the waters are still sparkling clear.

Sorayut, Kotee

Sorayuth also published pictures of himself playing in the sea, as he told viewers that many parts of the resort island are still worth a visit.

Unhappy viewers say he is too keen to put a positive spin on the oil leak, which the Tourism Council of Thailand estimates will lead to a 100-million-baht loss in tourism revenue.

Commenting to camera on the criticism, Sorayuth said his detractors were just being mean-hearted. Denying he was showing anyone any special favours, he said most of the coverage still concerned the clean-up effort and efforts by local people such as fishermen to make a living despite the setback.

His co-presenter, comedian Kotee Aramboy, said the programme wanted to tell the public that Samet was still an attractive tourism destination, as many parts were unaffected by the spill.

Defending Sorayuth, one netizen said she appreciated his efforts to help keep local people in jobs, as many visitors had cancelled their trips since the spill. Another scoffed at Sorayuth's explanation, calling him a mere presenter for hire rather than a serious newsman. -

Teen weathers drug storm

The actress

The reputation of a teen actress whose father admitted she took illicit drugs is making a rapid recovery, to the dismay of some internet critics who wonder if she will be held to account at all.

The young woman's father offered an apology to the public late last month after an image of his daughter taking drugs spread rapidly on social media.

A day later, Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung - in his capacity as director of the National Command Centre for Combating Drugs - stepped into the saga, denying the young woman had taken any illegal substance, and insisting her father was mistaken.

Mr Chalerm took the actress, her father, and Office of the Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen before the media to insist the young woman was in the clear, as her urine test had come back negative.

Her father, however, said he stood by his claims that his daughter had experimented with drugs.

"She told me she had tried the drugs once. She was told they would help her lose weight,'' he said. In the picture, his daughter appears with another young woman using what appears to be home-made drugs equipment.

Meanwhile, the actress's mother told an interviewer last week that the other girl in the picture had forced the drug-taking apparatus into her daughter's hand.

"My daughter can't even use a lighter correctly,'' she said. "When I asked her about the picture, she started to cry. Before this saga, the director of the TV series in which she stars called her `Fatty', which stressed her out.

She asked me if I thought she looked fat,'' the mother said. "I said 'No', but she cried with her friend, and I don't know what happened after that.''

The actress stars in a bare-all, reality-style cable TV series about the lives of a group of secondary students. She appeared as usual in the episode which aired last Saturday, despite reports her scenes would be cut as producers responded to the drugs furore.

Sek

In a Facebook message last week, producers GMM Tai Hub appealed to netizens to resist making fun of the young star on social media.

Some netizens, upset at the way the affair appears to have been brushed aside, have doctored the picture to make it look as if she is merely eating snacks, not taking drugs.

Another critic has penned a cartoon contrasting the actress's treatment with that meted out to rocker Sek Loso, who admitted taking drugs two years ago when his estranged wife published pictures of him smoking crack. 

Sek's music label, Grammy Entertainment, cancelled its contract with the veteran rocker until he admitted himself for treatment.The cartoon shows two youngsters watching the TV. "What's that she's smoking?'' one asks.

"Never mind, we can all forgive her if she's done wrong,'' says his friend.

The last panel shows Sek, wearing his trademark shades and with tears streaming down his face. "Why doesn't anyone feel sorry for me? Talk about double standards!'' he complains.

Asked about the cartoon, Sek said he had no desire to compound the actress's misery.

"If a young one slips up, she should be forgiven,'' he said. -

Baitoey and the bar girl

Baitoey

Sexy singer and actress Baitoey R Siam performs a love scene in her latest acting role which she admits made her blush.
Baitoey (Suthiwan Thaweesin) takes the role of a bargirl who sells her body for a living in the Modernine series, Carabao.

"I have no formal training as an actress and never thought I would have to play a love scene so soon,'' she said last week.

"I didn't know what to do, so played it from the heart. We kissed for real. I have never had to touch the male lead before. I am proud of the role, though I felt shy at first.''

Baitoey performs a love scene with Sarawut "Aon'' Marttong, known for his sexy modelling work.

"My life is not like theirs, but I empathise with women who make a living working in bars. Like me, they are working to support their families at home,'' she said.

Meanwhile, Baitoey, who has just completed a nationwide tour of the hit song Splash Out with the hip-hop group 3.2.1, says she blames overwork for a persistent vaginal bleeding problem which recently required hospital treatment.