The mayor of Bandung, a city in Indonesia, was heavily criticised by Indonesian social media users after expressing doubts on his Instagram account whether a Thai actress, who said she loves his city, was a woman.
Ridwan Kamil shared a photo of Sutatta Udomsilp holding a piece of paper which said “I love Bandung” on Instagram and captioned it with “I hope she’s not a man”.
It is unclear whether Kamil meant it as a joke when making the remark.
However, his caption has since been replaced with an apology.
Indonesia netizens said Kamil’s comment was inappropriate.
Sutatta, a popular Thai actress, has not reacted to Kamil's comments, both before and after he changed his caption.
The 45-year-old mayor is a popular politician among young Indonesians.
He is known for his modern thinking and was praised for expressing support for Indonesia's LBGT community.