You won't believe our prices! (Please don't)
Marisa Horne.
Fashion store owner and model Marisa Horne is unhappy after a man left a spray-painted message on the front of her Siam Square branch as a New Year's gift.
She has laid a police complaint after the man, captured on CCTV, spray-painted the message "Sale 90" on her front window in the early hours of Dec 31.
Marisa, owner of the Marihorn brand, said the store was holding a 70% sale at the time. The message left on her window had hurt her business, as customers came in expecting to find goods were discounted by 90%.
Police had suggested the culprit could be a local teen who did it for fun. Marisa, however, is not so sure.
"The CCTV footage shows his face clearly. He's older than a teen. He could be a trade competitor, though I haven't run into trouble with anyone," she said.
"He used permanent spraypaint, which is hard to clean off. Its not the fun squiggly stuff that kids used over New Year that you can just wipe away," she said.
Marisa says she has asked police and security in the area to keep a closer eye on her shop.
She is attempting to paint the act of vandalism in a positive light. "The shop was already busy with prices cut to 70%. It's even busier now," she joked.
Cat fight in a tea cup
The winner of this year's Miss Tiffany's contest is facing new trouble with the law after her former boyfriend laid a police complaint against her for defamation.
Master's degree student Worawut Wattanapanit, 30, laid a complaint with Don Muang Police on Dec 30 alleging the Miss Tiffany's winner, Panvilas "Jele" Mongkol, 21, hurt his reputation when she responded to his earlier assault complaint.
Earlier last month, Worawut laid an assault complaint against Jele. He said the former model is also cruel to cats, argues with her mother and has an anger problem.
He said he sustained shoulder injuries after the couple argued on Nov 25 _ but what she did to his beloved Persian cat was much worse.
"She took my prized white Persian cat out of its cage and threw it against the floor," he said, adding the cat had now lost its incisor teeth.
"Jele could make the whole thing go away if she agreed to stroke my cat's head and apologise," he said at the time.
At a bizarre televised press conference to explain his claims, Worawut held a toy cat to his chest, telling reporters he was fond of animals.
A moment later, he jumped to his feet and slammed a book to the floor energetically, to illustrate how he says Jele treated his prize-winning cat on the day the pair argued.
"I don't know why she would use such force," he told reporters, panting as he caught his breath.
Don Muang police called the pair together to see if they could settle the row. Declaring she was happy with the outcome of the meeting, Jele said she refused to apologise to the cat, as Worawut's claims of animal abuse were fictitious.
"My former boyfriend didn't pursue the matter, as he knew it wasn't true," she said.
Last week, however, Worawut laid a new complaint with police, after Jele _ backed by the organisers of the Miss Tiffany's contest _ claimed his real motive in taking legal action was to cash in on the Miss Tiffany's name to draw attention to himself.
Earlier, Miss Tiffany's 2004 contest winner Treechada "Poy" Petcharat said she had heard months ago that Worawut wanted to kick up a fuss about Jele in the media.
"Jele called me, saying her boyfriend wanted to get into show business, and asked me if I could help," she said.
Denying the claim, Worawut said he held no interest in entering the industry, as he knew his looks weren't good enough.
"I wasn't happy about Poy's comments," he said.
"I'm studying for a master's, and have work of my own," he said.
Jele has declined to comment on the police complaint.
Dtac daddy not about to drop call
Actress Bongkot "Tak" Khongmalai is fed up with reporters' predictions that her relationship with her fiancee, billionaire Dtac founder Boonchai Bencharongkul, is on the rocks.
"Some of you write as if you're sure we're about to break up, as you're always trying to fault my behaviour," she wrote on Instagram last week.
Boonchai Bencharongkul and Bongkot ‘Tak’ Khongmalai.
"We are going out together, so it's natural that sometimes we argue," she said of her relationship with Boonchai, who is 30 years her senior.
"I suggest you save those stories for the big day ... because it will never arrive!" she said about the break-up rumours.
Tak posted a message over New Year which prompted media speculation the relationship was going sour.
She wrote: "Sometimes love can make us happy. Other times it can disappoint and hurt us. The thing I really need now is patience and tolerance.
"I'd like to tell everyone that my life is just the same [as theirs]. I'm not happy all the time. But I do believe that one day, I must find happiness."
Later in the week, Tak published on Instagram pictures of herself and Boonchai enjoying a break in Phuket. News reports said Tak was trying to put an end to rumours that the pair were going off each other.
The Rak Dara website, on an upbeat note, said the couple were often spotted making merit at temples together, and Boonchai has bought Tak a Louis Vuitton bag as a New Year present. "Of course Tak's happy!" it said.
Last month, Tak said she would like to delay plans to marry Boonchai by up to two years. Voluptuous actress Tak and art lover Boonchai were engaged in Bangkok in November.
