Mayor’s despicable act shows how low |politicians will go
Re: “Mayor files report with police against reporters”, National, August 1.
The disgraceful event concerning a former Thai Rak Thai party member misusing his power as a district mayor in Khon Kaen – ordering subordinates to strip a 64-year old reporter to his underpants – showed how low Thai politicians can sink.
The stripping was clearly in retaliation for the reporter’s newspaper having publicising the mayor’s “engagement” to a 15-year-old girl. It was reported that the mayor had offered the girl’s family a dowry of Bt400,000 and a car.
The girl is a Grade 11 student at a school where the politician is an honorary adviser. At 15 she’s considered too young for marriage by Thai law. Worse, the mayor is already legally married to a lecturer at the local university.
This incident shows that our politicians are so obsessed with money and power that they will go to great lengths to get what they want, even if it means disregarding ethics and the law.
It will be interesting to see how the public reacts to such unacceptable behaviour among their politicians, as seen especially in the past 15 years.
Vint Chavala
