CityNews – The Ministry of Culture announced Monday that the social media trend of women posting photos displaying their “underboobs” could earn them up to five years in jail.
The trend of women posting selfies that display the lower half of their breasts is said to violate the country’s 2007 Computer Crimes Act that prohibits “any obscene computer data which is accessible to the public.” The ban is a part of Thailand’s ongoing effort to preserve its traditionally conservative culture that has been under fire from a growing global influence.
Anandha Chouchoti, a ministry spokesman confirmed to Reuters that identifying culprits could be a challenge.
“When people take these ‘underboob’ selfies no one can see their faces. So it’s like, we don’t know who these belong to, and it encourages others to do the same,” said Anandha. “We can only warn people to not take it up. They are inappropriate actions.”
The timing of the announcement comes less than a month before the famed Songkran festival, where incidents surrounding indecent exposure have resulted in arrests in previous years.
Last year during a Songkran celebration in Pitsanulok, a group of transgender people (referenced as “ladyboys”) were arrested for revealing their breasts in connection with a photo that was shared via social media. In 2011, three teenage girls were arrested in Bangkok for dancing topless in the back of a pickup truck.