Two men in Thailand are in trouble with the law thanks to an
Instagram photo posted by pop star Rihanna during her recent visit to
the holiday island of Phuket.
The singer was visiting Phuket for a few days between stops on her Diamonds World Tour, departing on Sunday for Singapore.
During Rihanna's visit she shared many of her experiences on Twitter and Instagram, including a photo of her holding a loris -- an endangered primate native to Southeast Asia.
The Instagram picture,
believed to have been taken at Phuket nightlife hotspot Bangla Road, was
captioned "Look who was talkin dirty to me!" and "liked" by more than
230,000 viewers.
The problem is, it's
illegal for anyone to charge tourists money to take photos with the
endangered primates -- an issue wildlife groups have long been trying to stamp out on the island.
Officials in Thailand quickly went on the defensive when outrage over Rihanna's loris image spread.
The government ordered
the Ministry of Natural Resources and local Phuket officials to urgently
investigate the matter, reported local website Phuketnews.com.
Sunday night, a raid on
suspected touts led to the arrest of two men, aged 16 and 20, who were
taken to a local police station and presented to the media.
"It is very difficult to
do the raids because the touts have spies," Awat Nithikul, leader of
the patrol officers, told The Phuket News.
"If someone hears that
the police are coming their way, there will be a person who calls the
touts and tells them to move. But this is a big deal because it might
affect Thailand's reputation."
The newspaper says the
two arrested touts are waiting to be bailed, and the two lorises in
their possession will be returned to a national park in the nearby
province of Phang Nga.
No comments:
Post a Comment