The Interior Ministry has set up an ethics committee to investigate permanent secretary Suttipong Juljarern for allegedly insulting and humiliating a junior official during a recent meeting of ministry officials, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Tuesday.
The incident during a live broadcast on Zoom from the Interior Ministry in Bangkok to officials in the provinces has been widely shared on social media.
As a result, Mr Suttipong has been widely criticised by the public, with critics saying his remarks were inappropriate and unethical.
Some of the comments aimed at the junior official included branding him "stupid" and "dumb", prompting calls for Mr Suthipong to be investigated for breach of the Interior Ministry's Code of Ethics.
Mr Wissanu said he had informed Tuesday's cabinet meeting that the Interior Ministry had set up a committee, chaired by former interior permanent secretary Wiboon Sa-nguanpong, to conduct an ethics investigation of Mr Suttipong. The investigation was now underway, Mr Wissanu said.
If Mr Suttipong was found to be in breach of ethics, an investigation report would be forwarded to a disciplinary committee. If he was also found to have committed a criminal offence, the report would be forwarded for a legal process, Mr Wissanu said.
Asked how long the ethics investigation would take, the deputy prime minister said there was no time frame. A penalty, if any, would be recommended by the committee - which might be just a reprimand, he added.
