Army’s Channel 5 anchor denies she was on Prawit’s pricey trip to Hawaii
A news anchor at the Royal Thai Army’s TV station has denied that she joined Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan’s charter-flight mission to Hawaii last weekend, saying she was on duty in Thailand during the trip.
The Thai Airways International (THAI) charter flight to Hawaii for an informal US-Asean Defence Ministers’ meeting has come under fire for its Bt21-million cost for just 38 passengers.
Major Chonratsamee Ngataweesuk, a news anchor at Royal Thai Army Radio and Television Channel 5, has been accused of involvement in the trip, as her name was on passenger list released on Tuesday by a well-known anti-junta Facebook page, “Stopfakethailand”.
“On Friday, I was in Bangkok and [doing a] live broadcast on Channel 5’s news programme. I had not gone abroad. And on Saturday, I was at my garden home in Nakhon Nayok province,” she said while hosting her TV programme on Wednesday morning.
According to a source at Channel 5, two other journalists went on the Hawaii trip. They were military-news editor Mueanfun Kongsri and photographer Jakkapong Paengkamsaen, the source said.
Critics have called for clarification of the high cost of the trip and that the names of the 38 travellers be revealed.
Prawit, who is also deputy prime minister, earlier said there were some journalists on the trip for the purpose of doing their jobs. He said he was ready to disclose the name list, but later he was quoted by Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Khongcheep Tantrawanich as saying the list would only be unveiled to the Office of the Auditor-General, which is probing the matter, and not to the press or the public.
Amid the speculation over the delegation list, Stopfakethailand posted an unconfirmed list of the passengers’ names, which included Chonratsamee.
The ministry spokesman also confirmed that Chonratsamee was not on the trip, adding that among the 38 on board was a US official accompanying the delegation to facilitate the mission.
Regarding the Boeing 747 used for the flight, Khongcheep said THAI had provided the aircraft. He only determined the departure and arrival dates, he said, referring to the speculation about “over-specification” of the aircraft.
He said THAI had not yet sent a bill to the Office of the Prime Minister as the Bt21-million figure was just an estimate.
