Time to stop publicity stunts

Emerald’s talent was singing. Yet as soon as he began, two of the three judges walked 

out because he had not “wai-ed” them or ended any of his sentences with the word krub. Emerald’s reason for this? He said his parents taught him more about morals than etiquette. 

The remaining judge, Pornchita na Songkhla, let the man sing before telling him off for a bad performance. Even the audience booed him. His reason for the tonelessness? He said he had forgotten to drink warm water with lemon before going onstage. 

Social-media users, meanwhile, have been wondering if perhaps Emerald is a special-needs person. The show’s producer, Workpoint, insists the man is fine and his show was not a set-up.

Meanwhile, Pirongrong Ramasoota, a journalism lecturer at Chulalongkorn University and mother of an autistic teenager, wrote in a Bangkok Post article: “Ridiculing people with special needs simply isn’t funny.

“Whether or not Emerald has autism is almost secondary to the key issue, which regards how he was mistreated and ridiculed on the show by both the commentators and studio audience.”

Children and family advocates have also called on the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to look into the ethics of the production firm.

In the meantime, social-media users have been working hard to find out who Emerald really is. 

Ban Bin, who claims to be Emerald’s teacher, wrote on Facebook: “After finishing M.6 [Matthayom 6] none of his classmates had met or heard from him, until we saw him on TV being mistreated. This author understands that contestants who are allowed onstage must first go through an audition. If that is the case, then everybody must have seen his strange behaviour and lack of talent. It’s not like anybody is allowed to go onstage and perform just like that? (This author stopped watching this show since a woman was allowed to paint a canvas with her breasts and call it art.)”

Ban Bin went on to say that letting Emerald go onstage was like leading a lamb to slaughter. The teacher also said that mass-communications schools should place more emphasis on ethics instead of just teaching their students to make money. 

Social-media user Jintana Panyaarvudh said she initially wanted to watch the clip after reading actress Intira Charoenpura’s post on Instagram, but changed her mind when she found out more about the issue. “I don’t want to victimise him further. The more people talk about it, the more it must hurt him,” she said. 

Khun Chai Sai Fah, in his post titled “To Those Who Feel Sorry for Emerald” on www.pantip.com, said he believed that Emerald had done all this because he wanted his moment in the spotlight.

“If he has special needs, then why would he know Susan Boyle from ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ or Gig Warunee [a contestant last year]? Usually, people with special needs do not know these things. Please think twice. Does he really deserve your sympathy?”

Noo Noi Nak Dern Tang replied that he did not know why Emerald behaved the way he did, but said people with special needs were able to learn things. “An autistic kid in my neighbourhood knew about Lady Gaga before I did and was also able to sing Tata [Young]’s ‘Dhoom Dhoom’ song.”

Facebook user Komson Kaemthong wrote: “Now the producers have created the controversy they were craving”. 

Emerald’s performance seems to have gone more viral than Somchai Pattani’s emotional rendition of a self-composed song in which he called for the return of love and peace to the restive South. Somchai came onstage right after Emerald. 

Maybe the producer is experimenting with the “negative publicity” theory.