Ethics review sought over Prawit’s alleged assault on reporter

Two journalistic bodies on Saturday issued a joint statement seeking a review on the ethics of General Prawit Wongsuwan, listed MP and leader of the Palang Pracharath Party, over an alleged assault on a female reporter during an interview on Friday.

In the statement, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand (NBCT) and Thai Broadcast Journalists Association (TBJA) referred to a video where Prawit was seen grabbing the top of the head of a female reporter while saying “What are you asking?” repeatedly.

The journalist asked Prawit while he was walking to his car what he thought of the prime-ministerial election on Friday morning where Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party was picked.

Prawit did not attend the voting session as he was at an event to welcome Olympic athletes and their coaches who had arrived home from France.

After the incident was made public, a team from the Palang Pracharat Party claimed that Prawit’s action was a casual conversation made in jest, given his long-standing acquaintance with the journalist, who has been reporting on national-security issues.

“After thorough investigation with great concern on the issue, the NBCT and TBJA concluded that Prawit’s action was an expression of anger and threatening to the reporter who was doing her job,” the joint statement said. “It was not a casual conversation with a jest that Palang Pracharath Party tried to claim in an attempt to make the matter go away.”

The two media bodies also mentioned an incident from 2021 in which Prawit had asked a reporter who was interviewing him where she graduated from, which they claimed had an intention of “devaluating the media’s duty”.

The NBCT and TBJA said they will request an ethical review to determine whether Prawit’s action constituted a serious violation of ethical standards as stipulated in the Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament and Committees B.E. 2563 (2020).

They added that the review should focus on two articles of the Code: No 12, which mandates respect for the personal rights and freedoms of others and prohibits impolite behaviour or language, and No 13, which forbids any form of intimidation, malice, or physical violence towards others. 

“The move aims to uphold the dignity of members of the Parliament and protect the role of the media,” the statement said.