TV station apologises over re-enactment of Bangkok shrine bombing

A TV station has apologized after dressing a member of staff in a yellow TV shirt and re-enacting the Bangkok blast at the Erawan shrine. Executives at Nation TV admitted it was insensitive and disrespectful to the dead after the re-enactment sparked outrage among those at the shrine and online. Presenters read out an apology on television on Thursday night. The president of Nation Broadcasting Corporation Adisak Limprungpatanakij later said that the plan was made “without consideration for the sensitivity of the public and with disrespect for the dead”. He added that the station would consider disciplining those responsible.

There is an unidentified TV crew, they have someone dressed as the suspect in the shrine. Police have asked him to leave the scene and people are shouting ‘terrible’ at him

Twitter user BoyOfHeaven

The bomb blast on Monday evening killed 20 people and injured scores more. Police are hunting for the suspect, who was seen on CCTV footage in a yellow TV shirt. A team from the TV station was sent out to re-enact the bombing at around on Thursday evening. A member of staff was dressed up to look like the suspect but the team stopped filming when people at the scene “expressed frustration” at them. Meanwhile, Australian actor Sunny Burns, who teaches English in Bangkok, was forced to speak to police when his private details including his home address were being spread online after a journalist said he resembled the bomber. He gave a statement and posted a picture of himself at the station “to share any evidence in case something went wrong”. Two other men, a Chinese tourist and his Thai guide, have also been cleared of any involvement after they were seen on CCTV at the scene.

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