‘Niet’ to the Russian cheerleaders at the Supercar Rally
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The sight may have been pleasing to some, but for many others the five young Russian girls wearing bikinis and dancing in front of a picture of His Majesty the King as they cheered on the competitors at the Bangkok-Pattaya Supercar Rally were not acceptable.
There was an uproar amongst local people on April 21, as the cheerleaders danced and waved checkered flags at the finishing line, and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn ordered the girls to be moved.
The rally was held by the Supercars Club of Thailand in cooperation with Central World Shopping Mall, and sponsored by the High Society Dot Com Group and the High Society Party Magazine Group.
Television pictures, however, showed the five scantily dressed girls parading in front of a picture of His Majesty the King at the entrance gate to Pattaya City Hall, and the nearby statue of King Taksin. Each of the girls was responsible for waving a flag for each rally car that crossed the finish line, and for posing for pictures with the 40 rally cars parked outside Henry J Beans at the Amari Orchid.
Mayor Niran dispatched municipal officers to ask the girls to leave the Pattaya City Hall premises. However, the organizers of the group remained behind, so police officers from Pattaya Police Station were brought in to get them to move along. The girls were sent to a hotel.
Niran has complained to the organizers, saying that the people of Pattaya were greatly displeased and found the display to be totally inappropriate. Patpong Thanawisuth was the presenter of the competition.
The rally itself was an impressive one, with luxury cars from owners around the country on display. There were 40 cars, the most expensive being priced at 40 million baht and the cheapest a mere 10 million baht.
The cars set out from the Central World Square department store in Bangkok, with the finish line being in front of Pattaya City Hall. The only casualty was a Ferrari that had an accident on the way, and burst into flames.
Pattaya Mail