As Gaga brings her Born This Way Ball to Bangkok, Thailand's government is enraged over her plans to buy fake goods.
By Brendan Dempsey
<P><a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml">Lady Gaga</a> apparently wants to go shopping in preparation for her next concert in Bangkok — for a fake Rolex.</P><P>At least that's what she told her 24 million Twitter followers upon her arrival in Bangkok on Wednesday (May 30). "I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex."</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Lady Gaga Will Bring a 'Personal' Touch To 'Born This Way' Tour" id="vid:717952" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>The tweet sparked instantaneous uproar on various social media and web forums, as many local residents felt the comment was insulting, abrasive and generally damaging to the reputation of Thailand. Gaga has yet to apologize for the tweet.</P><P><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex.</p>— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) <a href="https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/205265026016223232" data-datetime="2012-05-23T11:52:50+00:00">May 23, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> The Commerce Ministry of Thailand is in a long-standing battle with piracy, and members of the government feel that this message directly undermines their efforts. An official at the ministry's Intellectual Property Department recently told <i>Reuters</i> that: "Lady Gaga is a representative of the U.S. and the U.S. puts pressure on smaller countries to promote the protection of intellectual property," adding that "she should tell her fans that they shouldn't use fake goods."</P><P>The controversial message has also been addressed by members of Thailand's music industry. Thai DJ Suharit Siamwalla responded by tweeting: "We are more civilized than you think," then added that he now plans to boycott Gaga's show on Friday.</P><P>It seems that Mother Monster just can't seem to stay out of trouble as her <i>Born This Way</i> Ball makes its way across Asia. The Thailand controversy comes almost immediately after she had to <a href="/news/articles/1685092/lady-gaga-cancels-show-indonesia.jhtml">cancel a show in Indonesia</a>, and then responded to various <a href="/news/articles/1685564/lady-gaga-islam-threat-indonesia-concert.jhtml">Islamic threats surrounding that show</a>.</P><P>Not all fans have taken umbrage with Gaga's latest comments. Throngs of fans awaited her arrival to the hotel, and people are already camped outside Rajamangala stadium in hopes of being one of the lucky "monsters" who get to meet the pop star.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Lady Gaga Finds Inspiration In Her Fans, And They Are Inspired By Her" id="vid:657588" width="415" height="255"></div><p></p>
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