Rocker "Sek Loso" and his estranged wife Wiphakorn "Kan" Sukpimai have come face to face in court for the first time since Sek filed for a divorce, with each refusing to give ground to the other.
'Sek Loso' and, inset, Wiphakorn ‘Kan’ Sukpimai.
The pair met at the Central Juvenile and Family Court in Min Buri on Friday.
Sek said later that he did not soften to Kan's demands, as he is the resolute type. A disappointed Kan asked whether he still regarded her as human any more.
Media reports said their attempts in court at reaching a settlement failed, with Sek refusing to countenance Kan’s demand that he provide maintenance payments of 900,000 baht a month for the couple’s three children.
Sek, who says he "badly" wants to be single again, has applied for sole custody. Kan, who contests the application, wants to keep the children with her.
However, she says Sek should fulfil his obligations as a parent and help pay for their upkeep.
Kan left the family home with their three children in October amid claims, later confirmed by Sek, that he had beaten her. Police are investigating.
After Sek missed an earlier court appointment this month, Kan revealed on Facebook the rocker had not sent her any family support since she left. Nor had he visited them.
Kan said she and the children have been forced into a hotel, as Sek refuses to give up the family home or vehicle. They have also had to buy everything anew.
"He’s trying to provoke me any way he can and force the children back to him," Kan wrote.
Speaking after their failed court conciliation session on Friday, Sek said he worries about his estranged wife, but would not weaken.
"I feel sorry for Kan, but I can only accept what’s possible," he said. "The kids can't get through that amount of money; she has asked for too much.
"Kan cannot look after the kids alone, as she has no work. We can bring them up together, but I have to get a divorce for sure."
Kan said the couple had been together 23 years. "How can you take this attitude and still claim you respect me as a person?" she said in tears. "I have done everything for Sek. So you’re telling me now I have no value?"
The court has called the couple back again for another hearing on Feb 18.
Meanwhile, Sek insists he was a victim of a hacking attack when a crude joke about the serial rapist in Nakhon Pathom appeared on his Facebook last week.
The joke said women in their hundreds were heading to the province in the hope of meeting the rapist, who police have yet to catch. The joke has been doing the rounds of social media. It was taken down after Sek came under a storm of criticism on the internet.
Sek claimed on Thursday his account had been hacked, but did not express remorse for the message.
His estranged wife, Kan, suggested it was Sek who wrote it. "He’s telling the same old jokes," she said.
Pakin ‘Tono’ Kumvilaisak and Pattarida ‘Tangmo’ Patcharaweerapong.
We can wait to be parents
Activist actress Pattarida "Tangmo" Patcharaweerapong has persuaded her boyfriend, actor Pakin "Tono" Kumvilaisak, to wait another five years for children, even though he is afraid of dying first.
Tangmo and Tono are marking their first year together since they were engaged at a mock church ceremony in December 2014. The outspoken actress said the couple hoped to have started a family by now, but have been held back by her decision to go freelance.
Tono lost his father at a young age and is worried if he leaves fatherhood much longer, he could die before his child comes of age.
"He wants to have a child quickly, so father and son are not too far apart in age. He is the oldest child and lost his father when he was still young. He is worried it might be genetic, and doesn’t want to leave me and his child alone," Tangmo said.
"Unfortunately, I have embarked on life as a freelance performer, so have asked for another five years or so to establish myself. He and his mother agreed without too much difficulty, though I am aware this is not the plan they had in mind."
Tangmo, who lost her job with Channel 7 last August after she accepted work for a rival channel, said she was proud their relationship has survived its first year. She and Tono were a good example of a couple who could face life's problems together and still survive, she said.
The couple was better known last year for their utterances on the anti-government protest stage than their work in the industry. In March last year, Tono lost a multimillion-baht contract as a product presenter for Koncept Furniture, after his employer tired of dealing with his scrapes in the media.
Parjaree ‘Woonsen’ Worapanpisit.
Woonsen's pole position irks MRT
Dancer Parjaree "Woonsen" Worapanpisit is preparing to say sorry to Metropolitan Rapid Transit, which runs the city subway, for dancing in one of its carriages while the train was in motion.
Woonsen, who appears in a video clip cavorting acrobatically on a pole in a subway carriage, said she made the clip for fun and posted it on her Facebook page. She was surprised when it took off on social media.
Alerted to the clip, the MRT said it took a dim view of her actions on safety grounds, and threatened legal action.
Media reports late last week uncovered the identity of the mysterious dancer as Woonsen, a finalist in the first season of Thailand’s Got Talent, when she put in a similar performance as a pole-dancer.
Reaction among netizens was mixed, with some praising her show, and others complaining it set a bad example to other passengers. "Others might be tempted to follow suit," one said.
The passengers in an adjoining carriage, who can be seen through an open door, seem oblivious to the fact Woonsen was writhing about on the pole. Woonsen said she was prepared to say sorry for causing a fuss.
