Thamanat shrugs off Agriculture post, says Klatham can serve any role

Capt Thamanat Prompow, a party-list MP and chairman of the advisory board of the Klatham Party, together with Narumon Pinyosinwat and other Klatham MPs, reported to the Secretariat of the House of Representatives at Parliament in Bangkok on Friday (March 6).

All of the party’s MPs wore green ties and Klatham Party logo pins on their jackets. Upon arriving at Parliament, Thamanat and the Klatham MPs first paid respects to the sacred objects of Parliament before proceeding to the MP registration point on floor B1.

Thamanat later gave an interview on possible talks with the Bhumjaithai Party about joining the government, insisting that there had been no discussions with anyone so far, repeating the same position he had stated since returning from overseas.

Asked whether he could confirm that the Klatham Party was now in the opposition, Thamanat said that, for his part, if he were assigned to lead the formation of a government, it would then be clear which parties would join the coalition. 

As things stand, however, his party is not the one leading government formation, so it is giving full respect to the lead party. He said this was the proper political etiquette for political parties and politicians.

Thamanat also addressed reports that the new cabinet line-up did not include the Klatham Party. He said this year marked his seventh year in politics since 2019. 

During that time, there had been periods when he was part of the government-forming bloc, and another period when he was in the independent opposition alongside former MPs from the Palang Pracharath Party. 

Asked whether he felt anything about being left out, he said he felt nothing at all. “We can perform any duty as representatives of the Thai people,” he said.

Asked whether he regretted losing the Agriculture Ministry, Thamanat replied:

“Why should I regret it? Wherever we are, we can work. Titles are just something people wear, and they can be taken off at any time. They can also be passed on to anyone at any time. So if we feel regret over this post or that post, simply because we do not get it, then we would be very poor politicians.”

Asked whether, if the Klatham Party became part of the opposition, there could be so-called cobra MPs voting for the Bhumjaithai Party, Thamanat said: “We are snake-catchers, so we would not let our snakes go anywhere. The only snakes around are venomous ones.”

As for reports that cobra MPs had already been bought, he said he had heard those rumours before the media had, and described them as politically motivated stories intended to create confusion.

“Every one of our colleagues, especially the 56 constituency MPs, took a huge amount of effort to win. I worked very hard to get each of them elected. If anyone leaves, I would regard that person as the worst kind of politician,” he said.

Asked about Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s repeated reluctance to answer questions about bringing the Klatham Party into government, Thamanat said he felt nothing about it. He said that, if people noticed, he could smile in every situation because he had been in politics for a long time.

He also insisted that his relationship with Anutin remained unchanged. He said there was no anger, no animosity and no quarrel between them. Each side was simply maintaining its own position, and he would not be the one to make the first move.

He added that politicians must be true to themselves, and that the most important thing was to maintain dignity.

Pressed again on how he planned to work in Parliament, Thamanat replied: “You will see. We are representatives of the people.”