Tables turn for the better, Tiger's tale under fire, sex clip fails

Footage may show ChaoChao didn’t flee

ChaoChao at the accident scene

New CCTV footage of a fatal accident in Bang Khen district is coming to the aid of a city DJ initially accused of playing down his role in the accident and attempting to flee the scene.

The footage emerged on Friday, hours after Sai Mai police pressed three charges against Chavalit Srimankhongtham, aka DJ ChaoChao, including careless driving including death.

ChaoChao’s Lexus struck teen motorcyclist Jirapats Thongarsa, 18, on Vacharapol-Sukhaphiban 5 Road, in Bang Khen district shortly after midnight on April 27 as the city DJ and TV presenter was heading home from work.

The victim was admitted to Bhumibol Hospital but died two days later from his injuries.

The footage shows ChaoChao’s vehicle approaching on an almost empty road. The Lexus passes under a bridge, where a group of eight or so motorcyclists including the victim had gathered, when Jirapats’ motorcycle shoots across from the far left to ChaoChao’s lane on the right. He brakes, but not fast enough.

Initial reports said ChaoChao stopped to offer help as a mere bystander, though Sai Mai police, who spoke to him on the night of the accident, say he admitted hitting the motorcycle after it cut in front of his car.

ChaoChao said he was left alone as the victim’s teen friends fled the scene. “I called for help and cradled the victim’s head, telling him he would be OK,” ChaoChao told the media in tears on Friday.

One teen motorcyclist claimed ChaoChao himself tried to flee, but said a friend parked in front of his Lexus to stop him leaving. Chao Chao said he merely parked his car on the side of the road to avoid being hit by vehicles behind.

The victim was among a group of teens racing their motorcycles in pairs under the bridge. Police intend calling them in to give evidence.

After giving evidence at Sai Mai station for two hours on Thursday, ChaoChao was charged with careless driving causing death, driving with an expired licence, and driving without insurance.

The charges capped a rough couple of days for ChaoChao after the victim’s mother told police that far from being a good Samaritan as media reports claimed, his Lexus had actually hit the boy’s motorcycle.

Somkuan Thongarsa, who met ChaoChao at the station on Thursday when he handed her 30,000 baht to help defray funeral expenses, also asked why he didn’t turn up at the funeral on the first day if he was sincere about helping.

She suggested he only came forward with money because he knew reporters would be there.

“When my son was alive, he would never yield to anyone. I am sure his spirit would never yield to anyone either, so I take the same stance,” she said.

Mrs Somkuan claimed she heard nothing from ChaoChao for the first few days after the accident. “He sent us a basket of flowers worth 2,000 baht,” she grumbled.

Complaining of being made a scapegoat in the case, ChaoChao said he had paid for the victim’s expenses since the night he was admitted to hospital, and his manager had stayed in touch with the victim’s family since. 

He was also paying all funeral expenses at Wat Bung Thong Lang temple, where he would also act as host of the rites. The case continues.

Classmates attack ‘exaggerated’ plight

Tiger

The young man whose public appeal for sympathy as a struggling student ran into grief when classmates claimed he was exaggerating has defended his stand.

Tanakorn “Tiger” Phitsanupoom, a child prodigy who is forced to work part-time jobs to make ends meet, last week vowed he hoped to die if the story of hardship he left on social media turned out to be untrue.

He was responding to critics’ claims he had exaggerated his plight and that his outspoken mother, Plairung Phitsanupoom, 55, was trying to make money from his status as a former child actor who has fallen on hard times.

“If it’s not all true, I swear I hope I die within seven days,” he told a television interviewer in tears. Earlier, Tiger apologised to his classmates at the elite Satit Chulalongkorn School, who said he was disparaging its good name with his tale of woe, including claims that he was forced to pay huge fees and went without school meals.

Most criticism, however, has centred on Tiger’s mother, who attacked netizen critics as envious. She admits taking pictures of Tiger on IG looking ragged and worn, serving customers at a restaurant, washing dishes, and carting out rubbish, but denies she was making an appeal for public cash.

“The public may misunderstand my mother, as they are not with her 24 hours a day. She has made many sacrifices, including selling her car when she was still young to put me through study,’’ Tiger said.

Tiger, Poj

He showed the balance of his bank book, which had reached 860,000 baht thanks to public donations he received since he put up his IG posts. His mother had borrowed from loan sharks to help pay for his tuition. After paying off those debts, he said he had 497,000 baht left.

Director Poj Anon, who follows Tiger on social media, added to the total with a 50,000 baht donation to help his studies.

Tiger, who has gained entry to Chulalongkorn University’s engineering faculty despite his young age of 16, pledged to do his best and thanked everyone for their support.

Jessie shows ‘too much skin’ 

Thai-British model Jessie Vard has sounded off farang-style after her latest sexy modelling clip failed to hit the mark with critics.

In the clip, Jess cavorts in a bubble bath to the backing of a pop song. She cups her breasts with her hands and appears to have trouble keeping the soapy suds covering her private parts.

Jesse

In a social media post, she said the clip was designed to promote skincare. In response to critics’ claims the clip is too sexy, she replies bluntly that work is work and she needs to eat like anyone else. 

“I am not so well off I can afford to choose just the good jobs,” she said. “I am still renting and my expenses are high. The work doesn’t go too far. When I model Thai traditional dress, people criticise. If I do a daring shoot, but cute, the critics say it doesn’t suit me.

“If I model a bikini, they say it’s too daring. When I do sports modelling, they say I look fat, my boobs are sagging, my body is no good.

“When I turn to singing they say I sound like a buffalo giving birth. If I work at night, singing in pubs, they say I am selling my body.

“You want me to be a teacher, nurse or work in a company? I haven’t finished studies and I have no money, not even enough to eat. When I start to get some work, people just trample over me. So please tell me, what am I supposed to do?”

On a brighter note, the young woman says she has achieved a new peak of 83,500 Instagram followers, which she enthuses is doing good things for her career.