Cholnan denies falling out with Pheu Thai after losing Cabinet berth
Former public health minister Cholnan Srikaew on Thursday told reporters that he was in good spirits after being recently removed from the cabinet, while also denying rumours of him having problems with the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
Cholnan was replaced as minister by former deputy prime minister Somsak Thepsutin.
Cholnan appeared in a public event for the first time since the new Cabinet list was announced on April 28. He was attending a press event in Bangkok to announce the success of the Care D+ campaign, which the ministry had collaborated with Chulalongkorn University to provide training to healthcare professionals.
Cholnan, who served as Pheu Thai leader from 2021 to 2023, said he has not talked to Somsak to discuss transfer of pending jobs, although he and the new public health minister frequently conversed on work and general topics.
Cholnan insisted that there were no internal problems between him and the Pheu Thai Party, and that he still served as an MP for Nan province.
Rumours of rancour started doing the rounds when Cholnan did not participate in a major Pheu Thai event in Bangkok on May 3 to announce its achievements in the 10 months it had been in power. Cholnan said he could not attend the event because he had another engagement.
On April 29, the Rural Doctors Society speculated that a group of bureaucrats at the Public Health Ministry may have been behind the removal of Cholnan from the Cabinet.
The group said via Facebook that it regretted the removal of Cholnan, as he was doing good work at trying to reset operations at the ministry. The post said that the former minister faced a lot of obstacles from a group of senior officials at the ministry, who wanted to retain their power.
Cholnan resigned as leader of Pheu Thai on August 30, 2023 to keep his pre-election promise to voters that he would quit if the party formed a government with Palang Pracharath or United Thai Nation parties, both of whom are junta supporters.
He was succeeded as party leader by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the party’s patriarch.
