Pictures don’t always tell the full story and viral images of a large Pattaya food-donation event looked sadder than it really was, Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome said.
The mayor stood before the media July 5, trying to spin an un-spinnable situation: No matter how well “organized” or “safe” the June 16 handout was, it still made Pattaya look desperate. Kunplome begged people not to smear the city’s image, but there’s little positive left to smear.
At the June 16 event, Pattaya officials had about 500 people sit on the beach in rows, spaced about two meters apart. Each person was given a foam container into which volunteers would eventually deposit hot rice and eggs before each person was given a bag of necessities.
The photos that went viral online of seemingly endless lines of sad-looking people holding empty food boxes like beggars was the worst possible look for Pattaya, and one the mayor was desperate to contradict. He did a poor job of rewriting history.
Sonthaya claimed the event was not sad, but hopeful. He noted that food-donation events have been held regularly for more than a year by charities and do-gooders, but not always in compliance with disease-prevention and social-distancing measures.
Pattaya’s official event, Sonthaya said, followed all the rules and was safe and organized.
That, however, doesn’t offset the fact that thousands of city residents are broke, jobless and left to beg for food, even if the mayor doesn’t want to call it begging.
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