Prayut remains silent on calls to suspend Prawit
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has refused to respond to growing calls on suspension of his deputy, General Prawit Wongsuwan, over allegations that he possessed luxury watches without reporting them to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The NACC has also rejected the call for it to consider suspending Prawit over what has become known as the “watchgate” affair, citing that it is not its duty to do so.
Netizens have tracked down photos of Prawit wearing many different watches from what seems to be an extravagant and extensive collection. Each of the watches appears to be worth hundreds of thousands of baht, and one of them probably cost more than Bt1 million.
The scandal arose after Prawit was seen wearing a very expensive Richard Mille watch during a photo session with the new Cabinet.
Facebook page CSI LA has reviewed media photos of Prawit and, as of Tuesday, it estimates that he has worn 23 luxury watches. The total price, based on market value, stands at more than Bt30 million – far higher than Prawit’s estimated income during his past three years in the office.