Prachin Buri governor cancels appointment of Chinese advisor

The governor of Prachin Buri has cancelled the appointment of a Chinese man as his advisor after the decision, made last week, drew strong criticism.

Governor Wiraphan Dee-on signed an order on Tuesday to revoke the appointment of Jungcheng Zhu as one of his six advisors. On 11 April, Wiraphan had issued an order appointing five Thai nationals and Zhu as his advisors.

The appointment was met with strong backlash from the popular Facebook page CSI LA, which questioned why a foreigner needed to be appointed as an advisor. The page also expressed concern that Chinese funding might begin to exert influence on local governments. The post sparked further criticism from Thai social media users targeting the Prachin Buri governor.

In the new order cancelling Zhu’s appointment, Wiraphan acknowledged that the decision had been inappropriate and could potentially harm state affairs. However, he did not explain why he had initially appointed the Chinese national in the first place.

Also on Tuesday, the governor sent an urgent letter to the permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry stating that he had cancelled the appointment after realising it was inappropriate and could damage state interests. The provincial governor requested that the permanent secretary inform Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul accordingly.

In its criticism, CSI LA also questioned who was behind the move to appoint the Chinese man.