Left behind

Temple-mooning California duo released

The same-sex Californian couple who flashed their bottoms at two temples and posted the photos online have been kicked out of Thailand.

Police made no comment, but their release after nearly two weeks locked up was reported by the San Diego Gay and Lesbian News (SDGLN).

Joseph Jay Dasilva, 38, and Travis Larry-Spackman Dasilva, 36, were arrested on Nov 28 after authorities found photos of their Bangkok adventure on their Instagram page.

But they appeared to show no remorse for their actions. Immediately after their release, the Dasilvas resurrected the Instagram "travelling_butts" account that led to their arrest and imprisonment.

They were fined 5,000 baht for public nudity after they posted a photo of themselves showing their naked bottoms at Wat Arun.

Authorities debated whether to charge them with posting pornography, a Computer Crime Act offence that could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to seven years.

According to SDGLN, the men appeared in court but the judge "threw out those charges and sent them back to immigration police to be processed for deportation."

There was no immediate confirmation from Thai police.

The Dasilvas received little love from the Thai or Californian public after their arrest for disrespecting the Buddhist temples and religion.

Social media in California supported their safe return but most commenters frowned on their actions.

Early on Monday, the top comment on the SDGLN website said:

This isn't a gay vs straight issue. This is, 'I'm an American being dumb and thinking I can get away with it.' While I don't think it is a stoning offence (or prison for that matter), I do think that that the level of arrogance shown is unreal.

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Vocabulary

  • arrogance: thinking you are better or more important than other people and behaving in a way that is rude and too confident - ความเย่อหยิ่ง, ความจองหอง
  • debate: to discuss something, especially formally, before making a decision or finding a solution - อภิปราย, ถกเถียง, โต้เถียง
  • deportation: the process of forcing someone to leave a country, especially someone who has no legal right to be there or who has broken the law - การเนรเทศออกจากประเทศ
  • frowned on: didn’t approve of (frown means to move your eyebrows down and closer together because you are annoyed, worried or thinking hard) - ไม่เห็นด้วย
  • naked: not wearing any clothes - เปลือยกาย
  • nudity: the condition of not wearing clothes, or of not covering a part of the body that is traditionally covered when you are in public - การเปลือยกาย
  • remorse: the feeling of being extremely sorry for something wrong or bad that you have done - การสำนึกผิด, ความเสียใจ
  • resurrect: to bring back into use something that had disappeared, died or been forgotten - ทำให้คืนชีพ, ทำให้ฟื้นขึ้นจากความตาย
  • stoning (noun): throwing stones at somebody/something - การขว้างก้อนหิน
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