Football fans fume as Champ's tongues get tied

Most of the griping took place on popular chat site Pantip.com, where people who can speak French led the charge by saying they could barely understand a word of what Champ was attempting to utter. And was this an actual interview with Gervinho at all – or just the trickery of editing that made it look like an exclusive encounter? 

Champ, after enduring his newfound status as the “trending” topic on Pantip for over a week, had a go at defending himself in an interview with Thai Rath Online. He wasn’t trying to “show off” his French, he said, merely trying his best to communicate in the player’s mother tongue. “My pronunciation might not be perfect because I had so little time to prepare.” 

Champ is no stranger to ridicule, it must be noted. During the last Euro Cup, while helping with the commentary, he insisted on using the name Portugal instead of “Portuges”, as Thais refer to the country. He was mercilessly harangued. Nevertheless, undeterred by the latest hubbub, Champ grabbed a Twitter opportunity to plug his next show. “Okay, enough with the French fuss. Let’s move on to other languages. But what will it be and which superstar will be my guest? Follow ‘Shotded Keela Champ’ at 4.55pm!” 

We now know that the next interview was with Italy’s Daniele De Rossi. We now also know that Champ remains a stranger to smooth sailing. “I beg you,” a viewer begged in a YouTube comment afterward. “First things first – you should speak Thai clearly. Secondly, are you sure you didn’t buy that interview from Roma?” (That’s De Rossi’s club.) Quasi-fan Sukhit Wattanasir claimed that Champ flubbed the Italian too: “Che tipo di accento? Quello? Questo ragazzo non pu? Parlare Italiano. Well, you said it right, but the accent is so strange and it would crack Italians up. It was as if you were reading from a script. Can’t you just stop showing off? Maybe just speaking Thai and English is enough.” 

Well, we’re not sure about Champ’s English, but, according to his detractors, he can’t even get the Thai right!

 

 

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Having nun of it

Let’s see who else is in trouble. Ah, yes, the Buddhist nun at Wat Tam Kwanmuang in Chumphon who drives a Porsche and keeps the keys in a Louis Vuitton purse. Despite there being no formal restrictions whatever on nuns possessing posh stuff, Suprinya Hunnangkul, known as Mae Chee Sherry, has come under attack for having it and flaunting it. 

What’s a nun doing with a Bt30,000 handbag anyway? The “good Buddhists” on the social media (you know who you are) say the sister is damaging the image of both the faith and her temple. So there was a press conference at the temple, where Abbot Phra Arjan Somjai pointed out that there is nothing in the holy precepts forbidding Mae Chee’s Vuitton lifestyle. He also pointed out that it’s not “appropriate” and he’d told her so. For her part, Mae Chee Sherry swore the bag was a gift from her followers and the Porsche she sometimes drives belongs to one of them. She just happens to hang out with a ritzy crowd!