A San Diego couple known to thousands on Instagram as “Traveling Butts” is now infamous for a very different reason: they were arrested for baring their bottoms at a holy site.
Joseph and Travis Dasilva were in Bangkok when they decided to snap a pic of their bare butts at Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram (Golden Buddha temple) and post it to their 14-thousand followers (since then, they deleted their account and reactivated it). The publicity drew lots of attention, including that of local police who arrested the duo at the Bangkok airport.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcEjyrWH_ga
The pair face charges of public indecency and possible prison time, according to the Bangkok Post, which reports that the pair was fined 5,000 baht (about $153) for their nakedness, the heaviest permissible amount for the offense.
The station chief told Bangkok Post police are preparing more charges against the couple, “because they posted their photos on the internet and took photos of their naked body parts at a religious site.” The couple face charges for posting pornographic pictures online and insulting a religion — the former carrying a punishment of up to five years in jail and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($3,066) and the latter carrying a jail sentence of up to 7 years and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,226).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcEkOk0n61S
Back in San Diego, the two men reached out to City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez for help. He says he’s currently talking to American authorities on what to do next.
He tells San Diego Gay & Lesbian News: “Though I am very disappointed in their actions, I am talking to U.S. government officials to see what assistance we can give them.”
Col. Choengron Rimpadee, deputy spokesman with the Thai immigration police, told the BBC: “Once they are through with the charges, the Thai immigration police will revoke their visas and push for deportation,” and that they would not be allowed to return to Thailand.
