A FORMER election commissioner said in a Facebook post today (Nov. 11) that the wine cooler at the office of Mr. Thitichat Nuchanat, election commissioner-IT, was used to keep fruit juice for guests, Sanook.com said.
The Election Commission had yesterday quickly deleted a photo of the commissioner giving an interview to a reporter after Thai netizens noticed a cabinet with solid glass at the corner of the office that appeared to be a wine cooler.
However Mr. Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, a former election commissioner, said he had never seen his friend Thitichart drink wine or other alcoholic beverages nor smoke and that is why he believed he was telling the truth.
“He said in his wine cooler there is only fruit juice for guests coming and going. He added that he brought the wine cooler from his house because there were two of them there, so he thought of bringing one to the office to keep fruit juice, there is nothing wrong with that.”
However netizens who noticed the wine cooler in the widely shared photo raised questions about the suitability of drinking alcohol in a government office and the use of taxpayers money for such activity before the photo was deleted.
Earlier Mr. Chirat Thongsuwan, a Move Forward Party MP from Chachoengsao province, called on the Election Commission to answer all questions that people have raised about the wine cooler in Thitichat’s office.
He asked both the commission and the commissioner to answer three of his own questions: when did they drink wine; with whom did they drink wine; and how many more wine coolers are there in government offices.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Former election commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn.
Home Page: Move Forward Party MP Chirat Thongsuwan. Photos: Siam Rath
Also read: Election Commission deletes photo after netizens zoom in on suspicious cabinet
