The Suphan Buri governor has denied an accusation he banned an Aed Carabao concert in his home province in March, saying no one even sought permission for the event during a Covid-19 alert.
Governor Natthaphat Suwanpratheep posted two video clips on his Facebook page late Thursday night in response to a video posted recently on TikTok. The one-minute-long clip showed Carabao band leader Yuenyong Opakul, better known as Aed Carabao, emotionally complaining about an aborted concert and demanding the governor face him on stage and explain it.
Reports said he was speaking during a recent concert in Song Phi Nong district in Suphan Buri.
During the loud complaint, which included rude words, Aed said he was a native of Suphan Buri but his band was blocked from performing in his home province by someone who wanted only to keep a position.
The performer said he was allowed to perform in Kanchanaburi province, but not in Suphan Buri, his home proviunce.
In his explanatory clips, governor Natthaphat said the issue concerned the annual event at the Don Chedi Monument in Suphan Buri. Ithad been postponed since last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the governor, this year’s event was postponed from January to March due to the Covid-19 situation in Suphan Buri.
In March, Suphan Buri was still an orange Covid-19 control zone and therefore no concerts could be held there. There were only some cultural shows that were scaled down to comply with disease control measures imposed by the government.
Unlike Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi was a blue tourism promotion zone where concerts were allowed, the governor said.
Mr Natthaphat said that a concert in the annual Don Chedi Monument event was normally organized by the private sector, not by the provincial hall. For the event in March, no organisers sought permission to hold a concert, he said.
“A concert in the event was the business of the private sector. At that time no one sought permission to organise a concert because visitors were not expected then and there could be the misunderstanding that Suphan Buri province discriminated against the performance,” governor Natthaphat said.
The governor said that he was also a native of Suphan Buri and a big fan of Carabao, and often sang the band’s songs.
Suphan Buri governor Natthaphat Suwanpratheep (screenshot from his video)