Colourful PM answers questions in House on overseas visits, online gambling crackdown
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Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Thursday, wearing a striking bright tie, took to the House floor for the first time since his election to the top office to answer impromptu questions from MPs.
— Srettha answers interpellations for the first time
— PM assures House of benefits from his foreign trips
— PM to order police to speed up crackdowns on online gambling, call-centre gangs
The first interpellation came with a note of banter from a ruling coalition MP, who even shone the spotlight on Srettha’s bright orange necktie and green socks.
Akkaradej Wongpithakroj (Ratchaburi-United Thai Nation) asked the PM to brief the House about his recent foreign visits.
Akkaradej began his question by saying: “I won’t ask about the colour of your socks today although the social media pays much attention to your socks.”
“It’s your business what colour of socks you want to wear. But if you don’t wear socks, I’ll raise an interpellation about it.”
When Srettha was holding a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin in Beijing last week, Thai social networks noticed the Thai prime minister was wearing bright pink socks, and said they were cute.
In the interpellation, Akkaradej asked the prime minister to explain the benefits to the country from his foreign trips.
In his reply, Srettha addressed the House by saying: “I always respect the House. If I’m not busy, I’ll be here to answer interpellations and clear the doubts of MPs because this is the duty of the executive to the legislative. Today, I’m wearing orange tie and green socks.”
He told the House that during his foreign trips, he had met representatives of several sectors to encourage them to buy Thai goods and agricultural products as well as invite them to invest in the kingdom.
He said that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, he had even asked for Riyadh’s help to negotiate the release of Thai hostages held by Hamas.
He said he had assured all the countries he had visited that Thailand was now fully open to their investments.
Among other things, he invited foreign investors to invest in electric vehicle manufacturing in Thailand as well as in supply chains and other businesses.
He assured the House that the government was doing its best to try to repatriate some 8,000 Thai workers who had expressed their wish to return from Israel.
He said the government would also address the issue of the debt of the repatriated workers.
The second interpellation was raised by Chaichana Decho (Nakhon Si Thammarat-Democrat) who asked him about the government’s measures to crack down on online gambling and call-centre gangs.
Chaichana started by teasing Srettha and Akkaradej. He said he hoped Srettha would not get diabetes as Akkaradej’s question was too sweet.
Srettha replied that he was not worried about getting diabetes because he had just had his medical checkup.
In his reply, Srettha said he would consult with the Royal Thai Police on Thursday afternoon about drastic measures against operators of gambling websites.
Srettha said he would also instruct the police to try to extradite alleged culprits involved in online gambling from abroad.
He said his government had also set up a centre to suppress online crimes as a one-stop measure to fight cybercrimes and receive public complaints.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Chanthararuangthong also rose to explain that his ministry had been cracking down on mule accounts that used to receive money from cybercriminals. He explained that more and more accounts were opened so the crackdowns had to go on.
