Two American men who were reportedly honeymooning in Thailand were detained after they shared photos of their exposed butts taken at two famous Bangkok temples.
The pair, Joseph and Travis DaSilva of San Diego, both 38, were arrested at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on Tuesday, just days after they uploaded photos of their bared backsides to Instagram, the Bangkok Post reported; the photos were taken at Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn) and Wat Pho temples.
“They were detained as they were about to leave Thailand,” said Col. Cherngron Rimpadee, an immigration police spokesman. The colonel said the couple were on a “watch list” after their social media posts caught authorities’ attention.
"Once they are through with the charges, the Thai immigration police will revoke their visas and push for deportation," he said, according to the BBC. "They will also be blacklisted from coming back to Thailand."
He added that the two men admitted to taking down their pants and posing for photos at the temples.
The DaSilvas were charged with getting naked in public and fined $150 apiece. However, some Thai officials have told the media that there could be more serious charges. Officials are now seeking court approval to prosecute them on the Computer Crime Act for uploading pornographic pictures, Col. Jarupat Thongkomol said from the police station near the temple, Agence France-Press reported. They could face jail time.
The couple were in Thailand celebrating their honeymoon one year after tying the knot, according to San Diego’s NBC 7.
San Diego City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez said the men reached out to him for assistance. “Though I am very disappointed in their actions, I am talking to U.S. government officials to see what assistance we can give them,” Murray-Ramirez told San Diego Gay and Lesbian News.
Wat Arun and Wat Pho, known to many travelers as the home of the golden reclining Buddha, are considered two of the holiest places in Thailand.
According to reports, this is not the first time the couple have posted images of their naked backsides online. The now-deleted Instagram account, @traveling_butts, followed their adventures across the globe with pictures of their bare bottoms at famous tourist sites around the world.
While some of the posts seemed harmless, the photos of the two men in Thailand triggered an intense backlash once they went viral, news.com.au reported.
In 2015, two American women were arrested, fined and deported for taking nude photographs inside Cambodia's Angkor Wat complex.
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