US apology
THE US Embassy in Bangkok expressed regret and apologised yesterday after a veteran Thai politician was identified as an "anti-Thaksin activist" in a formal invitation for him to attend an Independence Day party.
Pramote Nakornthab, a former Thammasat University lecturer, was addressed as “Dr Pramote Nakornthab, Anti-Thaksin Activist” on an invitation for the Fourth of July celebration to be held on July 2 at a Bangkok hotel.
Pramote was known for playing a leading role in the People’s Alliance for Democracy, or yellow-shirts, against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Without mentioning Pramote, the embassy said in a statement: “The US Embassy regrets that, due to an administrative oversight, an invitation to our Independence Day reception was inaccurately addressed to an invited guest. We have apologised for the error.”
Pramote posted photos of the invitation/envelope on Facebook. He said he declined the invitation and wrote: “Thank you. SORRY. Cannot accept invitation due to misidentification.” He said he should have been described as “pro-monarchy, pro-democracy and pro-American”.
His post went viral with many users criticising the embassy for being careless.
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