Advertisement billboards for a dating app have now popped up in multiple provinces, including Chiang Rai, Songkhla and Pathum Thani.

The messages they carry are eye-catching and have become popular topics of conversation, much like those in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, locally called “Korat”.

In that province, one billboard posed the question, “What is delicious in Korat?” There was a choice: “Fried Korat Noodles” or “Korat ladies”, with a checkmark next to “Korat Ladies” and a cross next to “Fried Korat Noodles”. The ads have attracted mixed reactions.

Meanwhile, members of the Lawyer’s Council of Thailand in Nakhon Ratchasima have demanded that the controversial billboards be removed within seven days, or they will file a complaint with the local police, seeking legal action against the owner of the dating application.

Apasarada Nathampaphol, vice chair of the Nakhon Ratchasima chapter of the Lawyer’s Council of Thailand, said today that the billboards have sparked widespread comment, both negative and positive.

But she and her four colleagues, who are all members of the council, have agreed that they cast the province in a negative light and that the message in the advertisement is degrading to women, as it likens them to food, which constitutes a libel, subject to a fine of 200,000 baht and/or two years of imprisonment on conviction.”

In the southern province of Songkhla, the billboards feature the message: “When you go to Hat Yai, you have to taste…” The first answer, “Hat Yai fried chicken”, had a cross next to it. The second, “Hat Yai men”, had a checkmark.

Hat Yai

In the northern province of Chiang Rai, the billboards, with ads for the same dating app but with localised questions, have been seen and images of them have gone viral on social media.

“What is really yummy? Local northern food or local men?” appeared on one, with the checkmark against the latter answer.

In the Rangsit area, just north of Bangkok, the message reads: “Something superb here, liked by everybody,” with the choices of “Rangsit pubs or Rangsit teens?” The checkmark is next to “Rangsit teens”.