Ex-beauty queen wife of Thammanat handed govt job by PM
The wife of Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao was handed a job in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat by the PM, not of the former position holder, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Thursday.
Government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said the Cabinet had agreed to give Thanaphon Sirawat, a former beauty queen, a position in the office effective from Tuesday. The move triggered accusations of nepotism.
Thammanat had earlier claimed his wife got the position after the former holder resigned to help run a local politician’s election campaign, and that he had no idea she had been offered the job until he saw her name on the list of new staff appointments.
When asked whether the former position holder could choose his/her successor, Wissanu said, “That is not how it works. The prime minister is the one appoints new officials in his Secretariat, as well as assistants to ministers. Certain candidates might be nominated, but the final decision is reserved for the PM’s discretion.”
Thammanat has managed to keep his job as deputy agriculture minister despite records that show he served four years in an Australian jail for heroin smuggling in the 1990s. His case has prompted questions about the transparency of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.