How should the press cover a funeral? Not like this

It might be argued that Singha, as the guitarist from the rock band Sqweez Animal and, even more importantly, as a son of benighted, red-shirt-aligned politician Veerakarn Musikapong (and also a suicide, according to the police) – was a public figure and remains of public interest even in death, but, as usual, the news photographers took things too far. 

And they got roasted for it in reams of online commentary.

The family and their guests were duly grieving for their loved one and begging for privacy, but the swarm of buzzing shutterbugs was capturing every tear shed, some even climbing on chairs to get “better” angles. And, as reported on Nation TV, when Singha’s singer-girlfriend Faye arrived, she was mobbed for comment despite refusing to answer questions and pleading to be left alone. 

Among the many critical views shared on Pantip.com, one stern rebuke challenged the media’s sense of dignity (or lack of it). “You have no manners or respect,” went the diatribe. “Considering the way you behave and dress for a funeral, it is quite clear that you have no respect for the dead or for the living. Put yourselves in their shoes: if you lost a family member and someone did what you just did, would you be happy?”

The comment was copied over to Facebook and promptly drew more than 50,000 “likes” and was shared another 1,400 times. The solid consensus was that, public figures or not, people attending funerals deserve a lot more respect than the reporters were willing to give.