The temple and a co-host of the funeral rites for Tridsadee “Por” Sahawong on Wednesday urged the public to respect the family’s privacy following Tuesday’s scrum of people seeking photos and selfies with the dead actor’s body and relatives.
Social media exploded in outrage over the stampede by TV cameramen, reporters and fans as they harassed Tridsadee's wife Vanda and other family members as they moved the late actor's body from Ramathibodi Hospital to Wat Klang in Muang district in Buri Ram on Tuesday.
Thousands of mourners, fans and relatives converged on the temple last night for bathing and chanting rites co-hosted by Buriram United Football Club. Some attendants tried to take the pictures of Mrs Vanda and her infant daughter, even trying for selfies with the grieving widow and the 2-year-old girl.
Temple officials shouted in vain over loudspeakers on Tuesday for the the public to show respect to the late actor by not taking photos inside Sala Dhammanuphab 2.
Seeing what happened at the temple on Tuesday, Karuna Chidchob, the wife of Buriram United owner Newin, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that people attending the ceremony should behave better.
"I would like to ask anybody who attends the rites to be fully aware of what kind of the event you are at and how you should behave," she said on the club's Facebook page.
"For those who took pictures deemed inappropriate, you should delete them all and stop sharing them to honour the one who passed away and his family," Mrs Karuna wrote, adding that a funeral was not for photo-taking or selfies.
Buriram United is co-hosting the rituals to honour Tridsadee, who was born in the province 37 years ago.
Meanwhile, a campaign has been launched on Change.org against the behaviour of the media.
It started on Tuesday and more than 23,000 names have been added as of Wednesday afternoon. The website needs at least 25,000 names before making a move.
Petitioners want a complaint lodged with the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand and the Thai Journalists Association about the ethics and professionalism of the media and are demanding a public apology from the two organisations.
The NBCT issued a statement on Wednesday apologising to his family and the public over yesterday's media crush.
"The professional media organisation would like to say sorry and apologise to the Sahawongs, as well as their relatives, fans and the public who followed the event. The organisation accepts all criticism and suggestions from those who monitor the duty of the press. This will be a lesson on how to improve the standards of the profession in the future," it said.
The chanting rites continue until Sunday, when Por is cremated.