Scandal swirling around singer and actor Peter Corp Dyrendal is threatening to undermine next week’s premiere of a military-sponsored film created to promote peace in the Far South.
"Anti-Peter" sentiment was stirred up on social media over weekend when Dyrendal's wife, Ployphan Taveerat, posted messages on her Instagram account hinting that the 39 year-old half-Danish entertainer had not returned home for quite a while, leaving her and two sons -- one a newborn baby and another a toddler -- alone at home.
One of the messages said "Khun Peter is addicted to work and a particular colleague...", which prompted sceptics and amateur detectives to try to dig up dirt on Dyrendal's supposed extramarital affair.
The drama has drawn a lot of public attention. Many people who sympathised with Mrs Ployphan have announced their intention to boycott Latitude Tee Hok (The Sixth Latitude), which opens July 23.
The film was bankrolled by the Internal Security Operations Command with a reported budget of nearly 20 million baht.
Maj Gen Nakrob Boonbuathong, deputy director-general of Isoc's 5th Operations Coordination Centre and the film's producer, on Tuesday admitted he was concerned that the negative press and an online boycott petition would affect Latitude Tee Hok's ticket sales.
"I ask people to not link Peter to Latitude Tee Hok because that's a personal affair. The film is about acting and made by the bureaucrats to help alleviate problems in the South and depicts the beauty of nature and the local way of life there," Maj Gen Nakrob said.
He praised Dyrendal for taking a smaller salary to work on the film and the courage to shoot it at real locations in strife-torn Pattani province over several months.
Latitude Tee Hok tells the story a Buddhist Thai man and a local Muslim girl who try to overcome obstacles amid violence and personal loss. Co-starring in the film is Miss Thailand 2012 Prissana Kampusiri.
Dyrendal has not clarified his marital situation but posted a message on his own Instagram feed on Monday that read: "Not everything is always what it seems."
The official trailer, with English subtitles, for Latitude Tee Hok. The 2.37 video was posted on YouTube by UCI Media Film, which produced it.