‘Sidechick’ law comment was merely a joke, PM says
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s recent half-joke, in which he mentioned a coming law to ban people from having “sidechicks”, was actually him just being playful, he said on Tuesday.
The story started circulating on Monday when he asked people to pay attention to government updates rather than to gossipy news.
“Don’t just care about which stars are together or breaking up,” he told locals during his field trip in Nakhon Ratchasima.
“It [celebrity gossip] has nothing to do with you. You want them to get back together, even when your own husband leaves you. Let me know if your husband does that because it breaks the law. A [new] law says that you must have only a wife, and no ‘sidechicks’. And it is on the way,” he continued.
While only monogamous marriage is recognised in Thai law, the Penal Code does not automatically punish the act of adultery, unless a complaint is filed by the damaged party.
But if committed by state officials, adultery is still subject to punishment, according to bureaucratic regulations.
His remarks, unsurprisingly, caused an Internet sensation because it would be the first law of its kind in the Kingdom if it were actually realised.
On Tuesday, however, Prayut denied the existence of the said law, saying that he had merely been joshing around with the locals the previous day.
“I’m actually kind and funny,” he said to reporters. “When I’m serious, you think I’m being funny. And when I’m actually funny, you make it in the other way round. I don’t get this. I just wanted to entertain people from my lengthy talk.”
