Reality show contestant Withawat "Mark V11" Thaokhamlue yesterday announced his withdrawal from the popular Academy Fantasia Season 7 contest and said he was willing to apologise to PM Abhisit Vejjajiva for insulting him on his Facebook page before he entered the competition.
Withawat's father defended his 17-year-old son, saying the teenager was loyal to the monarchy and the alleged lese-majeste message on his page was doctored.
The controversy emerged when messages posted on Withawat's Facebook page criticised the prime minister rudely, allegedly insulted the country's top institute, and attacked another reality show contestant, Patipan "Zen The Star" Lohsathien.
Organisers debated if Withawat should be dropped from the competition.
Withawat, along with his family members and their lawyer, appeared at a news conference yesterday to clear up the issue. Father Wathanyu Thaokhamlue said the family would like to confirm they had been loyal to the Thai monarchy and were proud to have been born in this country with its beloved monarch. He said his wife had served the royal family during her nursing career in Chiang Mai 13 years ago.
"I taught my son to be loyal to the monarch and I confirm that my son had never posted any lese-majeste message. We had already filed a police complaint at Chiang Mai because the message was doctored," he said.
"As for his political opinion, Mark admitted he posted the message against the PM. My family and I are very sorry for what happened and apologise to the PM for my son's harsh words. If the PM gives us a chance, I would bring my son to apologise to him in person," he added.
Wathanyu said he would ask True Vision executives to allow Withawat to perform on stage in the contest's first episode on July 17, before he resigned from the show, so his son could fulfil his dream.
Withawat said he was sorry for what happened and vowed he didn't have any intention of insulting the beloved monarchy. He said the messages were some teenage thoughts expressed without thinking them through. He also asked for another chance from the society and said that he apologised to the PM. "If I saw the PM, I would bow down and apologise to him," he said adding that he also didn't mean to verbally attack Patipan.
Withawat said he would be responsible and withdraw from the Academy Fantasia Season 7 contest and promise to never attend any reality show again.
Withawat revealed he would continue his studies in Thailand and admitted he was very sad to lose the opportunity in Thai entertainment business circles. He said he promised not to post rude messages anymore.
Chiang Mai's San Sai police station superintendent Pol Colonel Wisut Poonchan said Withawat's mother had filed a police complaint that her son's Facebook message had been doctored, causing the misunderstanding that he had insulted the country's top institution.
Since the complaint was filed without presented evidence, witnesses nor accusations against anyone, the police only recorded the complaint.