Thai former junta minister condemned after slapping female journalist

ISTANBUL

Former deputy leader of the junta regime in Thailand invited wrath Friday after the 79-year-old retired soldier slapped a journalist.

The female journalist works for the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS) and videos of the incident showed Prawit Wongsuwon visibly angry when she asked him a question about his absence from parliament in a vote to elect the new prime minister.

Instead of responding, Duangporn Yiampop, the leader of Palang Pracharath Party -- a so-called civil-military political party, was seen slapping the journalist, twice.

Prawit, a lawmaker, did not attend the parliament proceeding and abstained from voting.

It is apparent from the videos that Prawit would have continued his assault on the female reporter but was forcibly escorted by guards and put into his car.

He was heard murmuring: "What are you asking?" a few times.

“Dear colleagues, call it what it is: assault,” said Saksith Saiyasombut, a Bangkok-based journalist for Channel News Asia.

Thai journalists have called out Prawit for his assault on their colleague and said his action “constitutes intimidation and threat against media freedom.”

Early Friday, Thai lawmakers elected Pheu Thai Party’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the 31st prime minister of the Southeast Asian nation, which is a constitutional monarchy.

"General Prawit, who is widely known for his ambition to become the prime minister of Thailand one day, appeared agitated when approached by the Thai PBS reporter," the broadcaster wrote on X.

The Thai PBS Workers' Union condemned Prawit's actions as unacceptable.

Under fire for his actions, Prawit, who is the former chief of the military, later spoke to the journalist and said he “didn't mean it and had no ill intentions.”

He served as first deputy prime minister under the junta from 2014 to 2023.