In the wake of a shared video with “errors” in which a suspected staffer was heard saying something controversial (or ignorant) about a K-pop star, Vogue Thailand had to issue a statement of apology, sort of

Vogue Thailand’s statement of apology (left), as seen on X and the cover of the March 2024 issue, featuring Tilda Swinton. Illustration: Just So

The “Apology for the mistake” on X was, at the time of this post, viewed 1.3 million times, with 150 comments, which were not always positive or supportive. That Vogue Thailand had to issue a very public apology suggested to many that they had upset a great deal of people. In the post, written in Thai, the magazine claimed that there had been “a clip of an interview” with Doyoung, member of the K-pop band NCT. It does not say what’s on the clip. Apparently, this reel “had been published on the social media channels of Vogue Thailand”. And “information presented raised unintentional questions that had affected the feelings of the fan group (likely ardent supporters of NCT).” It also added there were “errors” in the editing of the said video, even questioning the prudence of the editing, presumably that the indelicate parts should have omitted.

It went on to say that it “sincerely apologises to the artist and his fan group”. And that “they will investigate the cause of this mistake to the utmost” so that “such an incident would not occur again in the future”. There was no elaboration on the mistake they claimed to have made (nor did they identify the mistake-maker) or what information was put out there that led to “unintentional questions” being asked. They only identified Doyoung—aka Kim Dong-young—as the subject of the magazine’s possible oversight and that somehow the imprudence concurrently upset the twenty-eight-year-old singer’s fan group/base. Did the Thai edition of the world’s “fashion bible” really say something deeply offensive? The problematic video has been removed from Vogue Thailand’s socials.

Did the Thai edition of the world’s “fashion bible” really say something deeply offensive?

According to our Bangkok sources, someone from the staff at Vogue Thailand “was heard on video, asking if a boy (it turned out to be NCT’s Doyoung) from a K-pop band was popular” when he arrived to the usual uproarious response at a runway show. As the video is no longer available for view, we are unable to hear the utterance for ourselves. The actual question apparently was “khun nee dang ror (is this person famous)?” Innocuous but many think not. This apparently took place during the on-going fashion week in Europe. As Doyoung was seen at the Dolce & Gabbana show (he serves as the brand’s ambassador—he was named last year), the assumption was that the recording was made in Milan. It isn’t clear why the commentator would not know that an Asian who wasn’t a journalist and was so rabidly photographed as he arrived would not be famous. Or why fans of Mr Kim consider ignorance of his renown an affront to their fandom. Would it be less offensive if the question asked was, “who is he?”

Everyone in journalism these days knows that extreme care has to be exercised when commenting on anything pertaining to idols with a massive fan base, be they Korean, Thai, or American pop stars (who would have the courage to question Taylor Swift’s fame?). To Doyoung’s young fans, posting one person’s nescience online is, as one Bangkok-based media professional told us, can be seen as “outright insensitive to the star”. It isn’t clear how the questioner’s voice was recorded (or why it was not edited in what was eventually posted). As online chatter gathered frightening momentum, it was speculated that Vogue Thailand’s long-time fashion director Jongkol ‘Pook’ Palarit (who was, as she proudly declared on IG, “on duty at Milan Fashion Week”. But, it isn’t clear if she attended the D&G show) was behind that Thailand-shattering voice. In the online apologia, the sign off was by “Vogue Thailand Magazine Team”, not Ms Palarit and not, curiously, EIC Kullawit ‘Ford‘ Laosuksri. If the comments/reactions on Vogue Thailand’s IG and X pages were anything to go by, the whole team’s saying sorry is not quite enough.

Update (4 March 2024, 13:00): It has been more than a week since the “apology for the mistake” was shared on X. Vogue Thailand has not availed to the public the results of its investigation