An international laughing stock
I am left speechless at the behaviour of many Thai MPs' conduct in Parliament.
A charter amendment debate in the House THIS WEEKsuddenly became raunchy and woke up many sleepy MPs when a photo of a young Asian girl wearing only a shirt, sitting with her legs spread, touching her genitals appeared on a plasma screen three times. A source attributed this blunder to a technician watching pornographic materials while filming the debate.
What’s more, Nart Bantardtarn, a Democrat MP for Bangkok, was caught viewing an erotic image on his mobile phone during the debate. He claimed that the photo was from his friends on social media and that he had nothing to do with the nude picture displayed on the plasma screen.
Another MP was caught watching a soap opera during the debate. And let us not forget Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra skipping a House debate for a private business affair, or a deputy prime minister showing up in Parliament seemingly intoxicated.
The whole thing is farcical, rendering the Thai Parliament and MPs a laughing stock to the world. This whole debacle is akin to a bad Thai soap opera.
Sadly I suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on inside Parliament. The next thing MPs will do is hire coyote dancers to keep them awake during a parliamentary session.
Given the nature of many MPs across both sides of the House, I doubt reconciliation will genuinely happen.
Edward Kitlertsirivatana
Bangkok
