CityNews – Police decided to get involved after photos of a local art student’s photos picturing him sleeping in various places around Chiang Mai including the Rin Come Junction, telling the student that his behaviour was not appropriate and dangerous.
Photo: Facebook ‘Norapat KamMart’
On august 27, a photo was posted to the Facebook account of Norapat KamMart depicting a man sleeping with a pillow and blanket, on the crossing in front of traffic waiting at a red light. The image soon went viral with online news and Facebook users claiming it was a protest against the extremely long traffic light wait at the notorious junction.
The image was shared thousands of times, causing the local Police to get involved.
After a short investigation, they identified the art student and called him into the police station to receive a warning. They told the man that although the action was not illegal, it was dangerous and not an appropriate type of behaviour for someone in local society.
The art student told the press that the individual photo was part of a series of photos depicting him sleeping in various places (view here) around Chiang Mai including the steps of Doi Suthep and at Thapae Gate. He said the photos was parodying his ability to sleep almost any where and was not part of any protest against traffic or politics.
As a result the police then contacted the lecturer to verify this claim, which he did. The police then issued him a warning for allowing a dangerous project to go ahead under his supervision.
Police added that if students want to take photos like this, they should contact the police and ask for permission too, so that they may help manage traffic while the photo shoot is taking place.