Attendees at this year’s Teads Summit in Phuket, Thailand, were treated to three days of speakers, product demos, discussions of the latest innovations in global ad tech and—according to at least two attendees—a couple having sex in public as children played nearby.
While on a Sunday morning walk, one guest allegedly came across a man and woman engaged in intercourse outside the Angsana Laguna hotel, which hosted the event. The guest later wrote a note of complaint to several executives at Teads, a French company that provides video advertising and “global monetization platform” services to publishers. The guest sent a copy of the note to AgencySpy.
Describing the alleged behavior as “appalling,” the complaint said the guest came across “a couple having sex in a public area of the resort as I walked past the pool this morning … in plain sight of passers by and about 20m away from children playing nearby.” The guest also identified the man involved as “part of your conference” and attached a photograph of the alleged incident.
Greg Carton, head of marketing and communications for Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific, attended the event with the guest. He said Teads executives did not respond to the complaint before he tweeted out the photo more than 48 hours later.
Just one of the great sessions from #teadssummit. Smoking + public sex around kids. Terrorising resort staff + guests. #Branding Tks @Teads! pic.twitter.com/HbaIjC5xXS
— Greg Carton (@greg_carton) January 16, 2017
Carton also claimed that the hotel’s manager “responded immediately” to the complaint after adding 20 members to his venue’s security staff in an effort to better control the alleged behavior taking place at the summit.
“We are aware of reports concerning inappropriate behaviour that took place in the hotel where we have been based for our annual company summit,” a Teads spokesperson wrote. “We are currently conducting an investigation to establish if our staff were involved. We expect the highest standards of behaviour from our employees, and if we find anyone has acted in an inappropriate way, we will take action to discipline those staff.”
The complaint included more details regarding the alleged behavior witnessed the day of the summit’s closing party, noting that many Thai residents remain in a “year of mourning” following the October death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The witness also claimed that some of the alleged behavior, such as smoking and drinking in the children’s pool “despite repeated warnings from managers and staff members about safety concerns,” may have violated local law. The couple in question has not been identified.
“I would never wish to deny anyone a good time but this behaviour continues to impact my family holiday and making difficult the jobs of the lovely staff members of this resort,” the witness wrote, concluding, “[I] would strongly urge you to brief your staff on appropriate behaviours in such settings in future.”
Another Twitter account claiming to be run by an individual who attended the Teads Summit wrote on Monday that he/she had witnessed “sex in front of shrine” that “insulted” hotel staff, describing the event as a “corp[orate] sponsored alcohol riot.” The person running this account has not yet responded to a request to elaborate on those comments.