Vietnamese city summons Facebooker for comparing street decoration with thong

A Facebook user in southern Vietnam has been summoned for questioning by authorities after publishing a post comparing a New Year's street decoration with women's underwear.

Officials from Can Tho’s Information and Communications Department said they had summoned the Facebooker for “posting false information about an artistic street gate on social media”, but he did not show up on Thursday as requested, local media reported.

Do Hoang Trung, director of the department, said police had informed him they just wanted to talk with the man for clarification.

“It’s a bit wrong to publish a post like that, but we will not punish him,” Trung told Tuoi Tre.

The street decoration stands at a major crossroads in Can Tho, the fifth biggest city in Vietnam after Saigon, Hanoi, Da Nang and Hai Phong.

It carries a banner saying “Can Tho celebrates the Party, the New Year of the Dog 2018” on a background of the national and Vietnamese Communist Party flags, and is supposed to look like a bouquet.

Chuong May Man (Lucky Chuong) shared a photo of the sparkling gate on December 16 above photos of a thong and a woman wearing a thong, both sharing a similar shape to the gate, according to media interpretations.

Chuong’s post was intended to advertise his cellphone card shop next to the gate.

With the post receiving widespread media coverage, Chuong might have got more publicity than he bargained for.

Many readers said Can Tho is “abusing” its power as Chuong had done nothing more than use his imagination.

“The imagination has no borders and a thong is simply a piece of clothing which is advertised legally,” said a comment in Tuoi Tre.

A reader’s letter to Giao Thong, the news website of Vietnam’s transport ministry, said officials shouldn't be bothering the man just because he doesn't think the gate looks like a bouquet.

“They should have a better sense of humor,” the letter said.