An attempt to mourn the passing of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej became a controversial topic on social media last night when famous conductor Somtow Sucharitkul led his troop to sing the royal anthem through turbulence.
In a video that received over a million views, Somtow, 63, was interrupted by a Nok Air flight attendant halfway through the song as the captain turned the seatbelt sign on. However, the internationally-acclaimed conductor refused the cabin crew’s plea to go back to his seat and instead finished the song.
The incident happened when Somtow and his choir was on a flight to perform in deep-south province of Yala.
Somtow posted video on his Facebook yesterday with a caption “Part of the scene on the plane, including the stewardess trying to stop it,” before he deleted it due to the controversy.
Meanwhile, his mother, Thaithow, expressed her her disappointment that a gesture to pay respect to the late HM the king was interrupted, calling the flight attendants of Nok Air, whose symbol is a bird, “vultures.”
“On Somtow’s way to Yala, he invited all passengers to sing with our choir. Before they were finished, a pretty ‘vulture’ then told him to go back to his seat,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I cannot believe someone tried to interrupt the royal anthem.”
The video has been reposted and went viral on Facebook, with many netizens commenting that it is just bad timing and there is really no need to sing the royal anthem to express their love to HM the late king and sadness for his passing.
Somtow Sucharitkul is a Thai-American conductor, composer and science fiction writer. He won several international awards for his fictions and was the first recipients of the Silpathorn Kittikhun Award, an alternative to Thailand’s National Artist Awards.
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