WHILE Deputy Prime Minister and Palang Pracharath Party leader Prawit Wongsuwan was canvassing for his party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election in Laksi/Chatuchak constituency of Bangkok today (Jan. 24) the People’s Network for a Just Society (P-Move) protesters pushed their way through and handed over a letter to his representatives, Matichon newspaper said.
With Mrs. Saranrat Jenjaka, the spouse of deposed MP Sira Jenjaka whom the by-election is set to find a new MP to replace, running in the hotly contested race scheduled for January 30, Prawit went to canvass for support at the Saphan Mai 2 community.
After meeting a 104-year-old woman who thanked him for helping her during Covid pandemic, Prawit gave a speech focusing on the Baan Mankong Programme that empowers poor communities to take ownership of their own housing development.
He confirmed that the government is not just developing communities by canals but wants everyone in the whole country to have a better life.
However, just as Prawit was walking around greeting people in the community, ten representatives of the P-Move group that has been holding a protest in front of the UN for four days now tried to hand over a letter to him.
Deputy Transport Minister Atirat Rattanaset and former MP Sira met the protesters saying they were Prawit’s representatives while the security team quickly took the deputy premier to the car and drove off.
P-Move focuses on land conflicts and in their current protest outside the UN have raised various demands including the authorities supporting community land ownership and the right to manage the resources within their locale; grant amnesty to those charged with forest land encroachment; help people living on land belonging to the State Railway of Thailand; and help tribes of ethnic Karen people whose ancestral home is the Kaeng Krachan National Park.
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Prawit meeting residents of Saphan Mai 2 community during a campaigning trip there today. Photos: Matichon
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