Parents warn of a Chinese man secretly photographing their child's feet, who admitted to a foot fetish obsession. However, police could not prosecute him as there is no applicable law. Lawyer Kerdpol acknowledged this legal gap, stating it does not qualify as obscenity or violate the PDPA.
Parents are issuing a warning. A Chinese man secretly photographed children's feet. He admitted to having a foot fetish. When reported to police, no charges could be filed as it did not violate any laws. Mr. Phani, a parent involved, recounted to Thairath Online that on Saturday, 15 Aug 2026 GMT+7, he took his child to a birthday party at Playfarm, a family-friendly learning and leisure venue in Bangkok, attended by several families.
Later, an unusual incident occurred: a Chinese man entered without accompanying children, stood close to a children's mud play pit, and began taking photos with his phone. When asked why, he refused to answer, resisted phone confiscation, and verbally abused others aggressively. Ultimately, police were called to mediate.
Upon checking the man's phone, photos and videos zoomed in on the legs and feet of young girls were found. When questioned, he admitted to having a "foot fetish" (Foot Fetish). This means an attraction to human feet that can stimulate sexual feelings. The case was then taken to the police station for legal action.
However, police said legally it did not constitute a violation, as no genitalia or undergarments were photographed, and it did not breach the PDPA since the images were not shared or posted online.
Further examination of the phone to determine if there was any child pornography or obscene material revealed only photos of feet. Police recorded the man's details but took no further legal action.
"Police tried their best, but the law does not protect at this point. Many people do not understand what foot fetish is. Legally, the focus should not only be on photographing genitalia but also on intent," said the officer.
Thairath Online's special team discussed this issue with Dr. Woratom Chotipittayasunon, a psychiatrist and spokesperson for the Department of Mental Health, who explained that foot fetish (Foot Fetish) is classified as a Paraphilic Disorder, meaning a sexual preference that may deviate from typical sexual norms.
This foot fetish is called Podophilia, which involves sexual attraction to feet. Symptoms can include staring at others' feet for sexual arousal, taking photos as mementos for later use, or even touching feet.
Although not very common, it is among the most frequent fetishes involving human body parts. Cases rarely cause public disturbance because they are hard to detect and sufferers often feel embarrassed and avoid seeking medical help.
If the fetish does not negatively impact the individual or others, and is consensual, it may be considered a sexual preference (Fetish) but when it leads to a "Loss of Function", meaning uncontrollable behavior causing personal distress, inability to function socially or daily, or resulting in harm or disturbance to others, it may qualify as a psychiatric disorder, or Fetishistic Disorder. .
Other sexual disorders that are clearly illegal include pedophilia involving abuse or possession of child pornography, exhibitionism constituting public indecency, and necrophilia involving sexual acts with corpses.
"If the fetish involves unusual objects but no actual abuse, or if laws do not cover it, prosecution becomes difficult," the doctor said.
Regarding legal prosecution, lawyer Kerdpol Kaewkerd explained that current laws indeed do not cover such cases. Under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), taking photos of feet alone does not identify an individual. Unauthorized photography could be a violation if the foot owner suffers harm, but without damage, no criminal offense exists.
Even if the perpetrator posted the photos online, if no one can identify the foot owner, it still is not a crime. If faces or identities are visible but no harm is caused, such as posting images without defamatory captions, it also does not constitute an offense.
A minor offense could occur if the photos are taken in a harassing manner, such as persistently following and photographing without consent.
If the photography stems from a foot fetish and the intent is to use the images sexually, clear proof of sexual harassment or evidence that images were used for such purposes—like sharing in fetishist chat groups—is needed to meet legal sexual harassment criteria. However, the difficulty lies in how much authorities can prove.
"From a legal standpoint, no harm has occurred, but parents and youth may perceive this as a legal gap because the law does not fully cover such situations, possibly because it was unforeseen," the lawyer added.