Thailand’s parliament has said it will investigate senior politician and former army chief Prawit Wongsuwon after he was filmed slapping a journalist when she tried to ask him a question. BBCMr Wongsuwon, leader of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), hit a ThaiPBS reporter on the head when he asked him a question about new Prime Minister Patongtarn Shinawatra. The incident happened on Friday and prompted the reporter to lodge a formal complaint against the senior politician, after which the Thai parliament said it would investigate the matter.
In a video shared on X (formerly Twitter), the 79-year-old senior politician was seen hitting Duangthip Yimphop on the head multiple times as he was exiting a building, asking, “What are you asking? What? What?” Sharing the clip, a user wrote, “A politician is surrounded by reporters while walking down a corridor when one of them asks him a question. Instead of answering it, he raises his hand and slaps him on the head multiple times before getting into his vehicle and driving off.”
Watch the video below:
A politician is surrounded by reporters while walking down a corridor, when one of them asks him a question.
■ Instead of answering this, he raises his hand and slaps her on the head several times, then gets into his car and drives off.
■ Video of this conversation… pic.twitter.com/WjYw7CZtWa— Stephen Mutoro (@smutoro) August 21, 2024
Mr Wongsuwon was Thailand’s army chief in the early 2000s. The GuardianHe was one of the architects of the coup that ousted then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014. He then became deputy prime minister under the military-backed government that was in power until last year.
When the incident gained currency on social media, a PPRP party spokesman said the 79-year-old knew the journalist well and apologised, saying he was “teasing him as someone close to him” and had “no bad intentions”.
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However, the Thai parliament said it would investigate the slapping incident after the reporter filed a formal complaint. The Thai Journalists’ Union also condemned Mr Wongsuwon for committing “violence against a journalist”. It said it “considers his actions a threat and harassment to the rights and freedom of the press”.
Separately, Thai PBS has demanded that Mr Wongsuwon “take responsibility for his alleged attempts to intimidate a reporter”. ThaiPBS executive editor Noppadol Srihtai said the politician’s actions “are a threat to journalism”. “He was seen hurting a reporter and we cannot accept this. As a public organisation, we must protect the rights of journalists so that media work is not affected in the future,” Srihtai said.