A young Thai social media influencer has died soon after being hired for 30,000 baht to drink a 350ml bottle of whisky.
He had been seen in several videos accepting paid challenges to drink alcohol rapidly for money.
A video showing Thanakarn drinking quickly and straight from a small whisky bottle amid a cheering crowd at a party has been widely shared on the internet. Some partygoers were seen filming him on mobile phones.
After completing the challenge, Thanakarn looked sick and reportedly vomited before he was taken to hospital where he died later.
One Facebook page showed some partygoers laughing as rescuers rushed Thanakarn to an ambulance on a stretcher.
The influencer had been raised by his grandmother in a Bangkok slum after his parents separated when he was two months old. At the age of seven, he started selling garlands at a market on Ram Intra road.
After his death, many netizens condemned the deadly challenge as “rubbish content” and called on internet users to stop posting such content.
While some expressed concern for the well-being of his grandmother, some sadly recalled one of Thanakarn’s social media posts that read: “I am willing to be bullied and insulted to just get scraps of money from the rich people in order to provide for my family.”
