Chai Nat PR office in hot water over ‘fish sauce’ flood post

PM’s Office Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi, who oversees the Public Relations Department, yesterday apologised for a controversial post by the Chai Nat provincial public relations office concerning a viral report about an elderly woman wading through floodwater to buy fish sauce.

Supamas said she had instructed the department and its Chai Nat office that their role was to provide constructive and useful information, help people and boost morale, rather than express opinions that could cause public concern.

The controversy erupted after the Facebook page of the Chai Nat PR office, ‘PR-Chainat’, posted a comment questioning media coverage of a 78-year-old woman who was filmed wading through deep floodwater to get some fish sauce for cooking.

Holding a bottle of fish sauce, she was heard in the clip saying that she had decided to wade through the floodwater to buy the sauce for stir-fried vegetables because using salt did not taste as good.

The PR-Chainat post later said that all agencies in Chai Nat had been working to help flood victims and questioned why the elderly woman’s case had been turned into a controversy, asking whether it was intended to attract attention.

The post drew widespread criticism online, with many questioning why the clips should not have been shared.

The Chai Nat public relations office later apologised, saying its intention had been to highlight the efforts of officials who were working to help flood victims across the province.

It acknowledged that the wording of the post had caused some misunderstanding and said it had not intended to create conflict with the media.