The death penalty for taking selfies? | Threat of l …

Tourists taking selfies on the famous Thai island of Phuket can be sentenced to death. This is not a punishment for vanity or exhibitionism; This is a measure with which the authorities at Phuket airport have threatened fans to take pictures of planes on the island paradise.

According to the airport authorities, located near the island's tourist center, the country's penal code allows them to apply the maximum penalty to those who use their mobile phone to take pictures during that planes pbad over the sea because "it could distract the pilots".

One of the peculiarities of the beach is that it combines the "vision" of the planes with the paradisiacal landscapes of one of the most visited islands of Thailand. At the time of the selfies, many tourists were looking for the perfect photo of planes with the beach in the background. On Instagram, there are thousands of photos under the hashtag #Phuketplanesspotter. But the authorities have now triggered the alarms and uttered strong threats against those who were posing with a plane behind them.

Airport officials have announced that they would close the area for fear of an accident, saying the activity of tourists could hinder the concentration of pilots. The idea, explained the deputy director of the airport, Vijit Keawsaitiam, is "to create a safe area that will be clbadified as strictly forbidden zone and that will not allow the pbadage of tourists". But he also pointed out that "maximum penalties" could be applied both by selfies and by the use of drones or lasers. Keawsaitiam issued the warning in the Bangkok Post newspaper: "The maximum punishment is the death penalty," he said if it were necessary.