Pita sees political motive in efforts to dig up old IG post on grandmother

In his latest Instagram post, Pita identified his maternal grandmother as Anusri, who was once married to Kasem Abhaiwong and had two daughters who became Pita’s aunts.

Pita’s mother is from his grandmother’s second marriage.

The popular politician said his grandmother was born in Bangkok and dismissed claims that he was of Cambodian descent.

He said that his grandmother “actually lived in Battambang for a period”. He maintained that he had never claimed to be a part of the Abhaiwong family.

“I posted the picture in 2015 in memory of my grandma during my visit to Battambang. My reference was based on what I had heard from senior people and the guide at that time. I never thought it would be used for political purposes almost 10 years later,” he wrote on his Instagram account (@pita.ig), which has 2.7 million followers.

The post, which included a picture of his grandmother, got over 130,000 likes as of noon on Friday.

Pita was referring to his Instagram message posted on his other Instagram account (@tim_pita) on May 20, 2015, almost four years before he entered politics. At that time, he posted a picture of a mansion in Cambodia’s Battambang city that was built as the residence of its governor while under Siamese rule.

He wrote in English: “My grandmother used to live in this house almost 1 century ago.” He added in Thai that it was his maternal grandmother’s house.

Construction of the baroque mansion began in 1905 by the order of Choom Abhaiwong, whose Siamese court title was Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr. He was the fourth and last governor of Battambang from the Abhaiwong family.

The mansion’s construction was not complete when the governor abandoned Battambang and returned to Bangkok, as colonial power France was taking over the province after the Siamese-French territory pact relinquished it in exchange for Trat province and certain islands on Siam's eastern coast.

Kasem Abhaiwong, who Pita referred to as the former husband of his grandmother, was one of Choom’s many children from one of his 24 wives.

In his latest post, Pita also voiced concern that casting aspersions on him involving Cambodia could affect Thailand’s ties with the neighbouring country.

However, his latest post did not confirm that his grandmother had lived in the Battambang mansion.

Pita’s @tim_pita Instagram account, which has 2.1 million followers, appears to mainly focus on his personal life and family, while the other account (@pita.ig) is mostly involved with his political work.

In recent weeks, critics have questioned Pita’s claim that his grandmother had lived in the Battambang mansion that was built when his grandmother’s future ex-husband was only six years old. Critics also pointed out that the Battambang governor, who was Kasem’s father, and his family moved back to Thailand before the mansion was completed.