Pheu Thai MPs want Nutt to quit over girlie photos

“Images depicting Nutt’s inappropriate conduct have been circulated around the world, bringing shame on the Thai Parliament,” Pheu Thai spokesman Promphong Nopparit said. He added that Chirmsak Pinthong was wrong in trying to defend Nutt by saying that this behaviour was an acceptable way to relax during a debate. 

“If he wanted to relax, then he should be doing it at home, not at the legislative chamber,” Promphong said.

He has also called on the Office of the Ombudsman to look into whether Nutt had violated the code of ethics. Promphong is also calling on the police to launch an investigation to determine whether Nutt’s use of his smart phone had resulted in the unexplained appearance of girlie pictures in the two in-house TV monitors installed in the chamber.

Pheu Thai MP Prasit Chaisrisa said Nutt should hang himself to escape the shame he has brought on Parliament and the Democrat Party. 

Paijit Sreewarakan, committee chairman on House affairs, said officials at the House Secretariat suspect that Nutt’s use of his smart phone might have interfered with the TV monitors.

However, Democrat MPs Boonyod Sukthintai and Warong Dechgitvigrom defended Nutt by saying that they saw him check his phone at around 6pm, while the girlie pictures had appeared on the TV monitors at around 3pm. 

Warong added that the image in Nutt’s smart phone, sent via the Whatsapp application, was different from the one shown on the TV monitors. “I believe that there was some technical mishap in the House audio-visual room and the Pheu Thai Party is taking advantage of it to make trumped-up charges,” he said. 

Boonyod added that Pheu Thai MPs should stop framing Nutt or risk retaliation by Democrats who will target coalition lawmakers for a disciplinary proceeding in the wake of their meeting with outlaw Thaksin Shinawatra in Laos and Cambodia.