Agency will listen to all sides over celebrities' posts
The Disease Control Department's Alcoholic Beverages Committee will on October 19 seek information from all sides about the Thai celebrities posting photographs on social media of themselves posing with alcoholic beverages.
Dr Samarn Futrakul, director of the committee’s office, said yesterday that Piti Bhirombhakdi, regional marketing director of Boon Rawd Brewery, who posted criticism of the posts, would meet the committee, followed by the concerned celebrities and Thai Beverage PCL representatives. He added that the posts were in violation of the Alcohol Beverage Control Act.
“We will invite all sides and investigate the issue without any bias. We have invited Boon Rawd [executive] to talk to us first because he was the one who revealed the posts. We will see if he has any evidence or anything useful to build the case, as well as why he considered these posts as advertising gestures. As for Thai Beverage’s claim that it did not hire the celebrities, that issue is up to the court to decide. My [office’s] job is to gather evidence and forward the complaint to police,” Samarn explained.
He said such posts were in violation because they yielded commercial gains to alcohol producers. Even though some celebrities insist they were not hired to post the pictures, the fact that they sported the Thai Beverage logo can still be regarded as advertising anyway, he added.
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