Lady Gaga in hot water over Bangkok concert

LADY GAGA. ARNOLD ALMACEN

Bangkok–First she made a joke about buying a fake Rolex. Now Thailand’s culture ministry has filed a complaint to police against Lady Gaga for misuse of the Thai flag during her show last month.

The ministry said the part of Lady Gaga’s performance when she wore a traditional headdress and sat on a motorcycle in a skimpy outfit with a Thai flag trailing behind was “inappropriate and hurt Thai people’s sentiment”.

“We are not asking police to prosecute her but it’s our normal procedure to file complaints to concerned agencies when we receive them,” a senior ministry official, who declined to be named, said by telephone.

The ministry noted that the Thai national flag consisted of three colours — red for the nation, blue for the revered monarchy and white for religion.

Gaga caused a stir soon after her arrival in Thailand last month by tweeting that “I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex,” remarks that some Thais complained cast the kingdom in a negative light.

About 50,000 people attended her concert in Bangkok, which was part of a tour that sparked protests from religious hardliners in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea.