Facebook uproar over woman sitting in Ayutthaya Buddha’s lap

BANGKOK: Another disrespectful tourist posing for pictures among the monuments of Ayutthaya has drawn the ire of the Thai Facebook community.

The unidentified woman, believed to be Asian, was pictured sitting in the lap of a large Buddha statue at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol.

A Facebook user under the name Nopporn Chompirom posted the photo on Thursday, saying he didn’t take it, but rather someone who gave it to him to post online in the hope that authorities would take action.

Nopporn said the photographer was on an upper deck of the Chai Mongkol Pagoda on Wednesday when he noticed the woman sitting on the sacred Buddha image below.

By the time he came down, the woman and her friend had disappeared.

King Naresuan built the pagoda to celebrate a battle victory and the Buddha statue, Phra Ratana Nimman, was added in 1961 on the pagoda’s northeast side.

Wat Yai Chai Mongkol deputy abbot Phrakru Sirichai Mongkol said there were too few temple officials to ensure that tourists behaved properly.

He said signs would be erected urging visitors to be respectful. Ayutthaya Historical Park Office director Sukanya Baonerd was disturbed by the photo posted this week and said a complaint would be filed with police.

Sukanya said her office would instruct tour guides to control their foreign clients better when visiting historic sites. - The Nation/Asia News Network