The Thai ambassador to Australia has sent a strongly-worded letter to Channel Ten after the network aired a skit making light of the recent death of the nation's king.
In the letter dated October 18, Ambassador Chirachai Punkrasin said a segment on Monday's episode of Have You Been Paying Attention? was "very inappropriate, disrespectful, and certainly not amusing".
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"While it may not be the intention of the Network 10 to cause offence, the programme needs to show greater cultural sensitivity and media professionalism when it deals with a topic that makes reference to another country, institution or culture," Mr Punkrasin wrote.
Have You Been Paying Attention? is a weekly comedy-quiz program on Ten which challenges a panel of comedians and entertainers to remember the events of the week and this week showed a video clip of a Thai woman wailing over the death of Thailand's beloved monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The panel, which was made up of Peter Helliar, Ed Kavalee, Sam Pang, Jane Kennedy and Celia Pacquola, offered up several alternative answers before the correct answer was reached.
Mr Punkrasin said the show's panel had been "mocking people who are feeling intense grief at the passing of their monarch".
@michaelatta_95 @HYBPA pic.twitter.com/5JzRg2Vd1J
— Muga (@mugajang) October 18, 2016
Network Ten has written to the Ambassador of Thailand in Canberra to apologise for the comments made on the program, a spokesman said.
"In no way was any disrespect intended and we sincerely regret any distress caused," he said.
"The video has been taken down from Ten's website and other social channels, and will be edited to remove this segment, prior to the episode being broadcast or made available again."
The ambassador's letter was picked up by The Bangkok Post, which reported it on Tuesday night. The website is in black and white as a sign of mourning.
In a tweet on Tuesday evening, Have You Been Paying Attention's producers publicly apologised for the slight and said it would cease to air that particular segment in repeat episodes.
It seems that comments made on #HYBPA have offended some of our Thai-Australian friends.
— #HYBPA (@HYBPA) October 18, 2016
We'll be giving them a miss on the repeats.
In Thailand it is illegal to defame, insult or threat the country's royal family. The lese-majeste laws have been in place since 1908 but in 1976 were beefed-up to include 15-year jail terms for offenders.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej was the world's longest serving monarch at his death at the age of 88 last Wednesday. A one-year period of mourning has been announced for the Asian nation of 69 million.
Bhumibol was revered by Thais as the father of the nation after ascending to the throne in 1950.
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