By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A NIECE OF DE FACTO Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra was definitely by no means a spy for Cambodia as bluntly accused on social media, said a senior government official today (Aug.4).
Russ Chalichan, assistant to Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, categorically dismissed as groundless the allegations circulated online that Chayika Wongnapachant, niece of the court-suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s father, has turned out to be a secret operative based at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, covertly collecting intelligence and managing to pass it on to the Cambodians.
The intelligence allegedly gathered and forwarded by Thaksin’s niece from Bangkok to Phnom Penh could possibly involve recent clashes along the disputed border between Thai and Cambodian forces.
Chayika, daughter of Thaksin’s sister Yaowaret Shinawatra, was formally named adviser to the foreign affairs minister over the last couple of years or since the time of a previous Pheu Thai-led government, according to the ministerial assistant.
Members of the Thai public have openly suspected that certain politically-associated figures in the current Pheu Thai-led government might probably adopt treacherous, pro-Khmer sentiment similar to what Paetongtarn had allegedly expressed during her overly-submissive, naive talk on the telephone with Cambodian leader Hun Sen ahead of the five-day border clashes. Being related to the Shinawatra family, Chayika would likely be suspected to that extent, however.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Office Minister Chusak Sirinil categorically denied speculation that Paetongtarn, who has been ordered by the Constitutional Court to stop running the country as head of government pending a verdict on a historic impeachment case lodged against her might probably step down before the court ruling is delivered at any time between later this month or early next.
Thaksin might probably pick the only one of a trio of Pheu Thai contestants for prime minister left available today, namely Pheu Thai MP Chaikasem Nitisiri, to replace his embattled daughter if she was finally ousted at the order of the court though the de facto Pheu Thai boss would hardly trust him.
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Top: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra’s niece Chayika Wongnapachant. Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra with his niece Chayika Wongnapachant. Photo: Sanook.com
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