Shadowy characters running massage parlours are not normally championed as heroes. But 'brave' is the word that pops up most often when Thais describe Chuwit Kamolvisit.
Thailand's sex tycoon is 'brave to reveal the truth', 'brave to reveal the bad things', 'brave to stand up against the police', according to a random selection of Bangkok residents. Thais have been glued to their television sets over the past couple of months as the businessman, who runs many of the capital's upscale massage parlours such as Emmanuelle, Hi-Class, Sea of Love and Victoria's Secret, put on publicity stunts to attract attention.
Mr Chuwit put masking tape across his mouth to demonstrate how the police were trying to gag him, rolled around on the ground to show how he claims he was abducted, launched two quickly published books on the saga, and played to a packed house in his own theatre show, liberally decorated with seductively dressed girls.
Mr Chuwit has come out with a steamy tirade against the police.
He has accused one particular Bangkok police station of accepting bribes totalling 300,000 baht (HK$56,000) a month to ignore his business activities.
'I paid police to help my business and so that I would not have to worry about anything,' he said. 'The money I gave was not to cover any fault, as I did nothing illegal. I paid every month, otherwise about 10 policemen would come to sit at my bar.'