Colombian model on labour, libel rap

A Colombian man was ordered detained for allegedly working illegally as model here.

He also faces a charge of defaming backers of a campaign to stop illegal modelling by foreigners.

Thung Song Hong police in Bangkok brought Diego Fernado Gonzales Rojas, a Colombian national, to be detained at the Criminal Court yesterday.

He is charged with working as a model without a permit, an offence which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of 2,000-1,000,000 baht.

On Friday, Mr Gonzales, 32, was questioned by the Technology Crime Suppression Division police in a separate case in which he allegedly breached the Computer Crime Act. He met police for questioning after the court on Feb 3 approved a warrant for his arrest.

He posted messages on social media between Nov 26 and Dec 3 last year, claiming he had been harassed and deceived by the owner of a Bangkok-based modelling agency and head of a modelling association who spearheaded a campaign to stop foreign nationals working illegally as models in Thailand. The damaged parties filed a defamation charge against Mr Gonzales on Dec 8 last year. Mr Gonzales denied the charges. The court yesterday granted Mr Gonzales 200,000-baht bail on the computer crime charge and banned him from leaving the country.

The association’s campaign urged businesses not to employ foreign nationals who do not hold a work permit. They entered the country as tourists and took up modelling work without paying income tax, it said.

Some models are also under-aged and suspected to be part of a human trafficking racket.

The campaign backers held seminars to educate modelling agencies and advertisement firms about the laws and how to conduct their businesses ethically and legally.

Mr Gonzales has modelled for a number of well-known commercial brands, including a deodorant manufacturer, a pizza chain and a luxury hotel. He has also been hired as a fashion show model. He is believed to have made more than 300,000 baht from the contracts, police say.

Immigration police found he has been in and out of the country eight times.

APICHIT JINAKUL Police escort Diego Fernado Gonzale Rojas, a Colombian, to the Criminal Court to be detained for allegedly posting defamatory messages online. Mr Rojas, also charged with working illegally as a model, was later released on bail.