Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has been rightly pilloried in both local and foreign media lately. He has shown himself to be lacking in a too-long series of events. These have run from his luxury watches to last weekend's tasteless feast of mangoes and sticky rice. Still, there was something especially disconcerting and disappointing in his offensive and supremely unfunny "joke" about last week's terrorist attack on the Thai-managed DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi.
Not only did his inappropriate comments get worldwide attention, especially on the front pages of the Nairobi media. Not only were the remarks wildly out of step with anything to do with diplomacy. And not only did Gen Prawit blame Thai media while refusing to amend or retract his distasteful version of humour. His biggest error, completely uncorrected, was publicly forgetting or dismissing his official responsibility to the country.
As Minister of Defence, Gen Prawit is responsible for all security matters in the country. That responsibility was specifically handed to him by the supreme power of the military coup -- and old army buddy -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. One of the most serious security issues is terrorism. By making light of the murderous al-Shabaab attack on Thai citizens in Kenya, Gen Prawit was showing his lack of interest in the hugely important and serious task he swore to undertake as national security chief.
To review, 21 innocent people died in or beside the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi. Gen Prawit said of the attackers that they might have attacked "because the food is delicious". There was no need for him to be involved (or informed) because, "No Thai people died and the Foreign Ministry is dealing with it". The former could be excused as the world's worst joke, if he had retracted and apologised. But the latter remark is not what the nation or its allies should expect. It wasn't a joke, and it certainly was serious.
As the Minister of Defence and security chief, Gen Prawit has a sworn duty to be highly informed of all terrorist threats. The deputy premier's complete lack of interest in the murderous assault on Thai interests abroad is as troubling as it can be about a minister's lack of interest in his actual job. It is distressing that Gen Prawit holds the theory that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is somehow responsible or capable of dealing with terrorism on its own.
Apart from the often barbarous attacks by southern separatists -- also in Gen Prawit's official writ -- it is rare to see "Thailand" and "terrorism" in the same sentence. However, it regrettably happens. The last terrorism inside Thailand occurred in 2015 when the Erawan Shrine bombing, allegedly committed by Chinese Uighurs, killed 20 people and injured 125. Foreign threats against Thais, such as the Nairobi attack, are a virtually daily threat. The minister should be taking such threats seriously. Instead, he is laughing them off.
Gen Prawit still owes Kenya and its mourning people a deep and serious apology. More than that, however, he owes his own country and people a renewed pledge to take his position seriously. It should be noted that many people have urged Gen Prawit for over a year to show his spirit and responsibility to his country. The minister should now consider that recommendation more seriously than ever.
