Thailand's parliament has said that it will investigate veteran politician and former army chief Prawit Wongsuwon after he was filmed slapping a journalist as she tried to ask him questions. According to the BBC, Mr Wongsuwon, the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader, struck a ThaiPBS reporter on the head after she asked him a question about the new prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The incident took place on Friday and it prompted the reporter to file a formal complaint against the senior politician, following which the Thai parliament said it would investigate the case.
In a video shared on X (formerly Twitter), the senior politician, 79, was seen hitting Duangthip Yiamphop several times around the head as he left a building, demanding, "What are you asking? What? What?" Sharing the clip, a user wrote, "A politician is surrounded by journalists while walking down a corridor when one of them asks him a question. Instead of answering it, he raises his hand and slaps her in the head several times before climbing into his vehicle and driving away."
Take a look at the video below:
A politician is surrounded by journalists while walking down a corridor when one of them asks him a question.
■ Instead of answering it, he raises his hand and slaps her in the head several times before climbing into his vehicle and driving away.
■ Videos of this interaction in… pic.twitter.com/WjYw7CZtWa— Stephen Mutoro (@smutoro) August 21, 2024
Mr Wongsuwon was Thailand's army chief in the early 2000s. According to The Guardian, he was one of the architects of the 2014 coup that ousted the then PM, Yingluck Shinawatra. He then went on to serve as deputy prime minister under the military-backed government that ruled until last year.
After the incident started gaining traction on social media, a PPRP party spokesman said that the 79-year-old knew the journalist well and had apologised, saying he was "teasing her as someone who he is close to" and that he "did not have any bad intention".
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However, the Thai parliament said it would investigate the slapping after the reporter made a formal complaint. The Thai Journalists Association also condemned Mr Wongsuwon for using "violence against a journalist". It said it "considers his actions to be threatening and harassing toward 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". Noppadol Srihatai, the executive editor of ThaiPBS, said that the politician's actions "threaten journalism". "He was seen hurting a reporter and we cannot accept it. As a public organisation, we must protect journalists' rights so that media work won't be affected in the future," Mr Srihatai said.
