AN MP sitting on the government benches in the House of Representatives was photographed watching a pornographic image on his mobile phone while the debate on the budget bill for fiscal 2021 was continuing yesterday (Sept. 16) with this raising criticism among the public, Sanook.com reported this morning.
House Speaker Chuan Leekpai had previously requested MPs to not bring communication devices to Parliament when stating the House standards but it seems some MPs have not been toeing the line.
BBC Thai news service published an interview with Mr. Ronathep Anuwat, Palang Pracharath MP from Chonburi province, as explaining that the erotic image was sent via message by a person he was not acquainted with.
Prior to this he had exchanged four to five messages with this person who said she was in trouble and needed help. He asked her about her problem, but suddenly this porno picture popped up. He then asked her what her purpose was in sending this image, and when he found out it was money, he deleted it.
That the photographer saw him watching the image was because he was studying the surroundings to see whether she was forced to have this picture taken or not, he added.
This is not the first time an MP has been photographed watching porno photos on a mobile phone while attending a House session with Mr. Nat Bantadtan, a former Democrat Party MP, caught doing so in April 2012. Just as he was watching the erotic picture so some lewd photos appeared on the House screen with this raising questions whether he was linked to it or not.
However it was later discovered that the two sets of images were not related. Mr. Nat explained that he viewed this erotic image because he was tagged to it on Facebook and was going to delete it.
This had attracted strong criticism but House Ethics Committee later cleared Nat, pointing out that his action an inadvertent and unintentional and therefore not unethical
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Top: The MP watching the pornographic picture in the House yesterday. Thai headline say, “Unintentional.” Photo: Sanook.com
