The Sarng Anakot Thai Party, which was created by two former co-founders of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), will hold its first general assembly on June 20.
The party’s website said the meeting will be held at the Grand Diamond Ballroom of Impact Forum Building in Muang Thong Thani. The website also said the party would announce its first executive board with Uttama Savanayana serving as party leader and Sontirat Sontijirawong as party secretary-general.
Veteran politicians Uttama and Sontirat helped found PPRP to back coup leader General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s appointment as prime minister. Once this goal was achieved, however, the two were sidelined and removed from the Cabinet, prompting them to leave PPRP and form a new party.
The website said Sarng Anakot Thai will also introduce other co-founders, including Niphit Intharsombat, Supol Fongngam, Arthit Chunhachatrachai, Wichian Chawalit and Suranand Vejjajiva.
Meanwhile, Wichian handed in his resignation as PPRP party-list MP to House Speaker Chuan Leekpai on Monday.
Suranand had said earlier that the new party would nominate former deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak as the party’s PM candidate.
The South Bangkok Criminal Court on Sunday agreed to temporarily release former Democrat politician Prinn Panitchpakdi provided he does not leave the country.
The court also approved the investigation team’s request to temporarily detain the suspect for 12 days from April 17 to 28 pending an investigation into two sexual harassment cases and one rape charge.
Prinn, the son of former deputy PM and World Trade Organisation chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, is not allowed to leave Thailand without the court’s permission.
The politician has denied all charges and quit the party as well as all his posts on Thursday after a former intern accused him of molesting her.
Prinn was escorted to the court on Sunday morning by Pol Maj-General Trairong Piwpan, a deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau who is in charge of the case, and officers from Lumpini Police Station.
Bail guarantee for the two sexual harassment charges was set at 200,000 baht each and 300,000 baht for the rape allegation. The court did not set any other bail conditions apart from a travel ban.
Trairong said since Prinn has denied all charges, the case will now be handled directly by the investigators. He said both the victims and the suspect will be given full opportunity to provide evidence and witnesses to the investigators.
Lawyer Sittha Biabangkerd, who exposed the allegations against Prinn, claims more victims will come forward on Monday to file charges against the former Democrat deputy leader.
Democrat leader Jurin Laksanawisit maintained on Saturday that the party will not interfere with the justice process concerning its former deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi.
“The Democrat Party will not try to protect anyone in this case. Please be assured,” Jurin said. “This case will be treated in line with the legal process of providing all facts so justice is served for all parties involved, particularly the damaged party.”
Jurin also stressed that the Democrat Party, which is part of the current coalition government, takes a strong stance against sexual harassment and abuse against women, children and families.
“We are also against unfair treatment based on sexual preferences,” he added.
The Democrat leader was responding to critics who threatened to stop supporting the party after charges of sexual harassment emerged against Prinn.
On Thursday, Prinn quit his post as Democrat deputy leader and other party positions, including as head of its campaign for the May 22 election for Bangkok governor and city councillors.
His resignation came two days after an 18-year-old woman filed a police complaint accusing him of groping and kissing her at a Sukhumvit restaurant against her will.
Four more women filed separate complaints against Prinn, accusing him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.
Prinn dismissed their allegations, saying they left him “shocked and stunned”, and vowed to fight the case to clear his name.
Jurin said on Saturday that nobody has been appointed to replace Prinn as head of the Democrat Party’s campaign for the upcoming Bangkok election.
Former Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi reported to Lumpini police station in Bangkok on Saturday after being hit by multiple sexual harassment allegations.
The 45-year-old politician was accompanied by his lawyer.
Prinn turned himself in after Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy commissioner Trairong Piwpan said a warrant for his arrest could be issued on Saturday.
The ex-Democrat politician met with investigators, who were questioning him on Saturday.
On Friday, Trairong said Prinn could be charged with indecently exposing himself in a public place based on an allegation made by an 18-year-old college student.
The student claims the incident occurred after Prinn invited her to a rooftop restaurant on Sukhumvit. She and her mother filed the complaint at Lumpini police station on Tuesday via their lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd.
Police have also questioned the taxi driver who transported the student.
Three more women have now filed complaints against Prinn, according to Trairong.
One of the complaints is similar to that filed by the student, but allegedly stems from an incident at the end of February.
Prinn has denied the allegations but said he had resigned from all his Democrat Party posts to fight the charges and clear his name.
If found guilty, he could face a jail term of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht.
Veteran politician Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan on Friday urged women who suffer sexual harassment or assault to speak out against the perpetrators so they are punished. Sudarat said she herself had experienced sexual harassment when she was young.
She said society must condemn those who commit sexual offences, while law enforcers must punish the culprits regardless of their status.
“I am not referring to any individual in particular, I am just speaking in principle,” she said, denying that her move was politically motivated.
Her comments came after Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi was accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, reportedly by multiple women.
The 44-year-old politician, son of former deputy prime minister Supachai Panitchpakdi, on Thursday denied the allegations and resigned all his party positions — including as head of the coalition party’s campaign for the May 22 Bangkok governor election.
Sudarat, chairwoman of the new Thai Sang Thai Party and a former public health minister, said she had had personal experience of sexual harassment.
“Luckily, I was not easily intimidated, so what [the women allegedly] suffered recently did not occur to me,” she told reporters on Friday.
Sudarat said women are not weak although their physical strength may be inferior to men’s.
“Any man who oppresses women, regardless of their power or wealth, must be punished. Men must not treat women as their toys. As a woman, I can’t tolerate this,” she said.
Democrat Party’s executive committee will have to make the decision on whether to investigate the sexual harassment allegations against the party’s former deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi, party spokesman Ramet Ratanachaweng said on Friday.
The issue came to light on Wednesday after lawyer Sittha Biabangkerd revealed that an 18-year-old female intern had sought his help after allegedly being sexually harassed by the deputy leader of a major political party.
Prinn denied the allegation on Thursday and said he had resigned from the Democrat Party to fight the case and clear his name.
Ramet said expulsion is the highest punishment the party can mete out.
Ramet said even though this issue is a personal matter, it is now a big issue that society is paying attention to.
He confirmed that the Democrat Party is paying attention to women’s rights.
He also believed that Prinn’s move to resign as head of the coalition party’s campaign for the May 22 Bangkok governor election will not have an adverse affect.
Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy commissioner Trairong Piwpan said two more victims had filed complaints against Prinn, including Hathairat “Anna” Thanakitamnuay, the wife of pro-democracy activist Thanat Thanakitamnuay.
He added that police have not requested an arrest warrant from the court yet, but they can do so any time as this case has a penalty of more than three years imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Prinn said he would not go to Lumpini Police Station on Friday, adding that he was waiting for investigation officers to contact his lawyer.
He claimed that he did not know any of the victims who had filed complaints against him.
He also reiterated that he was ready to prove his innocence through the judicial process.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of exiled former prime minister Thaksin, and other key figures from the opposition Pheu Thai Party marked the Thai New Year with him in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
She posted on Instagram their group photo taken at a place described as Thaksin’s house in the Middle Eastern city.
Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s youngest sister and Paetongtarn’s aunt, also appeared in the group photo.
The photo caption explains that they took part in a Songkran “rot nam dam hua” rite, which involves pouring water on the hands of elders to show respect and gratitude.
In addition to the three Shinawatras, familiar politicians in the photo included Vicharn Meenchainant, Woravat Auapinyakul, Preechaphol Pongpanit, and Puangpet Chunlaiad.
Paetongtarn, nicknamed “Ung Ing” or “Ing”, was in March named “head of the Pheu Thai Family” — a new position created specially for her at the party’s meeting held in the northeastern province of Udon Thani.
She has the DNA of “the person who is determined to build this country in the name of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party”, according to Pheu Thai leader Chonlanan Srikaew, who announced her appointment.
Last October, the 35-year-old political novice was named the party’s chief adviser for participation and innovation at its general meeting in the northeastern Khon Kaen province.
Many political observers view Paetongtarn as a potential prime ministerial candidate for Pheu Thai, a possibility that party leader Chonlanan has not ruled out.
Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi on Thursday afternoon held a press conference to deny he had sexually harassed an intern and announced his resignation from the party.
Prinn, the son of former deputy prime minister and Word Trade Organisation chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, told the press that he had quit all party positions, including the post of deputy leader, to defend himself in the judicial process.
“I hereby affirm my innocence. I deny all allegations against me,” Prinn told the press conference held at 3pm at the Mother God main ground of the Democrat Party head office.
“Although the allegations are a personal matter, they affect my work with the Democrat Party because these allegations have an impact on my image. So, I decided to take responsibility by resigning as a member of the party and I’m ready to enter the judicial system.”
On Wednesday, a prominent lawyer, Sittha Biabungkerd, posted on his Facebook wall that an 18-year-old woman had sought his legal advice after she alleged she was sexually harassed by a deputy leader of a large political party during her internship with him. The lawyer did not mention the name of the suspect or the party he was associated with.
Three hours before Prinn held a press conference, Sittha claimed in another Facebook post that he had received complaints from more than 10 other “victims”, who claimed they had been molested by the same politician.
“I see that a person with a high-level post like this can pose a danger to women. I notice that he likes to call young women to be trained by him so that he could molest them … None of the victims dared to file police complaints because his father has a high position and he has good backing.
“I would like to call on the party to conduct an investigation. The person does not have to explain anything to me. He simply has to report to police in line with the summons order because victims have started giving information to police,” Sittha said.
Five political parties each currently having just one or two seats in the lower house of Parliament will discuss in June a possible merger to be able to improve their chances in the next general election after the expected amendment of the party-list electoral system, a party leader said.
Pirawit Ruangluedolphak, Thai Rak Tham party-list MP and party leader, said the five parties would meet late May or early June to discuss a possible merger.
The four other parties are the Pua Chart Thai Party, the Thai Teachers for People Party, the Palang Chart Thai Party, and the Forests Conservation Party.
Pirawit, who is the chief whip of the five small parties, said the merger would be necessary after the expected amendments to the MPs election organic law.
The bill to amend the organic law is being vetted by a special House committee. Among other things, the bill seeks to amend the law to require two ballots – one for constituency-based MP elections and another for party-list election.
The amendment will also change the method for distributing the number of party-list MPs among political parties.
Pirawit said he has been informed by a member of the ad hoc House panel, Rawee Matchamadol, the leader of the New Palang Dharma Party and a part-list MP, that the panel was still debating how to calculate and distribute the number of party-list MPs.
Pirawit said some members of the ad hoc committee had proposed the use of all 500 MPs – 400 constituency-MPs and 100 party-list MPs – as the base for calculating the number of party-list House seats each party would earn. But other members are proposing the use of 100 party-list House seats as the base for calculation.
Pirawit said smaller parties would be at a disadvantage if the 100 House seats are used as the base for calculation and the five parties would have to merge and focus on contesting constituency-based House seats.
Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi on Thursday has reportedly denied sexually harassing a young woman during her internship with him, according to a local TV station.
Thai PBS TV station reported that Prinn, the son of former deputy prime minister and Word Trade Organisation chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, had explained the issue to his father.
The TV station quoted Prinn as saying he has also called the mother of the young intern to explain himself and insist on his innocence.
The TV station reported that Prinn would hold a press conference on the issue on Thursday afternoon. However, when a Nation Group reporter called him up, he said there would be no press conference and hung up.
The TV station’s report followed a Facebook post by a prominent lawyer, Sittha Biabungkerd, who said in the post on Wednesday that an 18-year-old girl had come to his law firm to consultat on alleged sexual harassment by the deputy leader of a political party.
“A young girl came to seek my advice. She said a deputy leader of a large political party had sexually harassed her. She said she was kissed on the cheek and was hugged, and the individual groped her bottom without her consent,” Sittha said in the post, without specifying who the deputy leader was and which party he belonged to.
The post went viral, drawing over 22,000 comments and was shared over 1,000 times in less than 24 hours.
Sittha said the politician’s father was well-known globally, without naming him.
The lawyer, who rose to prominence after winning a THB30-million lottery case in Kanchanaburi province a few years ago, said he had advised the intern to file a complaint with police.
Before the TPBS report was aired, Democrat Party spokesman Ramet Ratanachaweng posted on his Facebook wall that he had no idea who Sittha had referred to and was not sure whether it was the Democrat or not.
Ramet said he had made the Facebook post because a lot of reporters had called him up with enquiries, and his Facebook inbox was flooded with questions about whether the Democrat would hold a press conference.
“I can’t really answer the questions because I don’t know who did what and when and how,” Ramet said in his Facebook post.
“But if he is a Democrat member, I would like to assure that ‘no one will be above the law and the righteousness of the country.’ Wrongdoing will be treated as such.”
On Thursday, Sittha made more Facebook posts, saying the deputy leader in question, without naming him, had committed similar acts against at least two young women in England.
“But the incidents were hushed up because his father was holding a very big position at that time,” Sittha said.
Sittha said he had received more information from two women, who said they were also molested by the politician in question when they went to have internship on economic and financial affairs with him.
After Thai PBS aired the report, Sittha said in a Facebook Live session that he had received more complaints from many more women, accusing the politician of molesting them during the past decades.
Sittha confirmed that the politician in question had contacted the family of the 18-year-old girl but the politician did not know that the girl had filed a complaint against him at Lumpini Police Station.
After the live session, Sittha went to the police station to find out about progress in the case.
Before the TPBS report was aired, Democrat Party spokesman Ramet Ratanachaweng posted on his Facebook wall that he had no idea who Sittha had referred to and was not sure whether it was the Democrat or not.
On Thursday, Sittha made more Facebook posts, saying the deputy leader in question, without naming him, had committed similar acts against at least two young women in England.
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