Crackdown on Phuket sex show after Rihanna tweets
The owner of a sex show in Phuket visited by pop star Rihanna has been arrested in a crackdown triggered by the singer's tweets.
“We wanted to make sure we would see things as they really are and what illegal activities were going on,” Governor Maitri Inthusut said. He was explaining the unannounced visit to Patong Beach’s “walking street” on Saturday night by a group of local officials led by him, the Phuket Gazette reported yesterday.
The owner of the bar on Soi Bangla, a night-time area in Patong popular among tourists, was charged with operating an entertainment venue without a permit and providing a lewd show, said Veera Kerdsirimongkol, chief of Kathu district.
The case was handed over to Patong police for further action, he said.
The arrest resulted from the visit by Rihanna and authorities would be stricter towards inappropriate shows or protected wildlife attractions, he said.
Thai officials were left red-faced after Rihanna’s tweets exposed the country’s seedier side.
On September 20, she posted a message on Twitter about a “shocking” adult show that she had witnessed while on a night out in Phuket during her “Diamonds” world tour.
She also posted photos on Instagram of touts with a slow loris in the Patong area. Two men were later arrested for possessing the protected animal.
Rihanna, who has more than 32 million followers on Twitter, is a Barbadian recording artist, actress and fashion designer now living in New York.
