After disappearing for almost two weeks, embattled "life coach" Sean Buranahiran on Tuesday apologised for mistakes related to his firefighters fund and promised to right all his wrongs.
The social media influencer posted a video to his Facebook page, admitting he and his staff might have acted carelessly, but he insisted they were honest mistakes and he pledged that all donations would be passed on to the so-called "Lom Hai Jai" (Breathing Fund) that he founded in March to help those tackling forest fires in Chiang Mai province.
Mr Sean was criticised on social media on June 27 about the fund's lack of transparency and he says he panicked.
During his silence he says he ordered his staff to add up all donations made to the fund and update their Facebook page.
He said his staff duly tallied the receipts and they came to 875,741.53 baht, while the total, including other accounts, was about 1.3 million baht, or about 400,000 baht more.
The American is a famous "life coach" who once had 4 million social media followers but this number dropped to 2.8 million after he was criticised for describing Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan as "a sweet guy" and then being questioned over his handling of the firefighters fund.
"I have to apologise for causing unhappiness to society. Above, all I apologise for causing trouble to my family members and my supporters," Mr Sean said in the video.
Mr Sean said he had rectified his errors and returned money to two donors who requested a refund.
Police, however, are investigating complaints about his handling of donations.