Novotel says sorry to banned transvestite
BANGKOK – The Novotel Hotel at Siam Square has apologised to a transvestite it barred from one of its night clubs – and in doing so it has avoided an international ban of Accor hotels by transvestites worldwide.
Gay rights groups were pacified after a transvestite, Sutthirat Simsiriwong, accepted an apology from Gerald Hougardy, the manager of the Novotel Hotel, Siam Square.
“I will let bygones be bygones. In the future I will be a guest of the hotel,” said Sutthirat during a press conference.
The Nation newspaper reported that Hougardy delivered a “sincere apology” to Sutthirat, who was barred from the hotel’s Concept CM2 nightclub two weeks ago. Hougardy insisted that the hotel did not have a policy to refuse entry to people based on their sexual orientation.
“We accept responsibility for the error in judgement by our employees on the night in question,” he said, adding that such an unfortunate incident would not happen again.
“The incident was unbelievable, it took time for us to investigate,” he said.
Sutthirat said he would contact all his supporters who had carried out an international boycott against the Novotel Siam Square and other hotels in the Accor Group chain to end the campaign.
Ian Jarrett
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