Newly appointed Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has a pile of hot potatoes waiting for him in his in-tray. The public is waiting impatiently for him to act on the legal limit of methamphetamine possession, alcohol sales, and cannabis.
Like his predecessor Cholnan Srikaew, Somsak hails from the ruling Pheu Thai Party. But observers say his ministerial working style and stance are likely to be very different.
“Cholnan works as a member of the party, functioning like its subordinate,” said Olarn Thinbangtieo, deputy dean of Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law. “Somsak is different. He is more like a partner [of the party].”
Hot potatoes
Somsak, 69, was appointed as public health minister on April 28 in the Srettha Thavisin government’s first Cabinet reshuffle, replacing former party leader Cholnan. Before the shake-up, Somsak was the deputy prime minister responsible for overseeing the Public Health Ministry.
As the new public health minister, Somsak is tasked with setting Thailand’s policy on three highly controversial issues: methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol.
On methamphetamine – the main focus of Thailand’s anti-drug efforts – the law currently classifies anyone found with five or fewer meth tablets as an abuser, not a drug dealer, unless evidence suggests otherwise.
This classification was created by a Public Health Ministry regulation when Cholnan was at its helm. The move promoted rehabilitation for drug addicts while also seeking to combat chronic overcrowding in Thai prisons. Records show that almost four in five (78.67%) of Thailand’s inmates were in prison for drug offences before the five-tablet policy was passed.
However, a recent survey showed that 78.85% of respondents were opposed to the policy of sending people caught with up to five tablets to rehabilitation facilities rather than jail.
Somsak will therefore have to decide whether to exercise his power as the new public health minister to reverse the Cholnan-era policy.
On marijuana, Somsak will have to handle the battle over legalization raging between Pheu Thai and its coalition partner, Bhumjaithai.
Bhumjaithai oversaw the decriminalization of medical marijuana in 2022, but the move led to an explosion in recreational use as weed shops mushroomed across the country amid a lack of regulation.
Pheu Thai declared its opposition to recreational marijuana during the 2023 election campaign. After it formed the government with Bhumjaithai’s help, Cholnan prepared a bill to tighten cannabis control, targeting leisure use.
On booze, Somsak will have to address ongoing moves to ease alcohol controls in the form of five draft laws currently being considered by Parliament.
While serving as deputy prime minister, he authorized a study on the feasibility of round-the-clock alcohol sales.
At present, Thailand’s restrictions on booze sales rank among the strictest anywhere outside of the Muslim world. Customers can buy beer or liquor only at certain times of the day – from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to midnight. The exception to this rule is airports and entertainment venues, which are governed by a separate law.
Medics and health groups have expressed strong opposition to the idea of allowing 24-hour alcohol sales, fearing the move would damage public health and lead to an even higher death toll on Thailand’s roads.
Somsak will therefore have to tread carefully in this matter.
Electronic cigarettes (vapes) are another hot issue smoldering in Somsak’s in-tray. Despite being illegal in Thailand, e-cigarettes are widely sold in the country, causing confusion over their status.
Somsak must juggle all these hot potatoes on top of his everyday responsibilities at the Public Health Ministry, such as budgeting, existing projects, and new initiatives.
Seasoned politician looks set to cement status
In Olarn’s opinion, Somsak has enough experience to handle what comes with his new post. A political veteran, Somsak previously helmed the Public Health Ministry briefly in 1992.
“Somsak has a team of his own that will coordinate with others and drive his policies,” Olarn said, predicting a period of stability at the top of the ministry.
“I think he will even be the longest-serving minister of the current government.”
Somsak was sworn in as a new member of the Srettha-led Cabinet on May 3. He is due to begin work as public health minister on May 7.
Olarn pointed out that during his time with the Palang Pracharath Party, Somsak used to attack Pheu Thai regularly and did little to aid its 2023 election campaign. As such, his appointment as public health minister in the Pheu Thai-led government demonstrated the strength of his political skills and connections, the expert said.
Cholnan’s fall
In contrast, Cholnan campaigned hard for Pheu Thai and helped the party form a government. He even agreed to shoulder the blame for tearing up a memorandum of understanding for an alliance with the reformist Move Forward Party.
“Despite this, he has now been kicked out of the Cabinet,” Olarn said.
He said Cholnan’s fate reflected his powerless status in Pheu Thai, beginning with his ouster as party leader last year and now capped by his Cabinet exit.
Following the reshuffle, the Facebook fan page dedicated to Cholnan posted a poem lamenting how he had worked so hard and sacrificed so much only to be stomped on as others scrambled for power.
Cholnan rose from a medical background as a rural doctor to become the most powerful person in Thailand’s healthcare sector.
Yet, after just eight months in office, he has lost the post to Somsak, a man whose contention that papaya-leaf soup can fight cancer has been ridiculed by scientists and rejected by the National Cancer Institute.
Olarn points to Somsak’s strong links with Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely considered to be Pheu Thai’s patriarch, as a factor in his new appointment. Somsak held several ministerial posts in Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai government and defended his former boss against criticism when he returned to Thailand last August to face imprisonment for negligence and corruption in office.
“It’s just that ‘the owner’ of Pheu Thai feels that Cholnan had been rewarded and there were no other missions for him,” Olarn said.
“In contrast, Somsak has political power. He has good ties with the party’s owner and has the power to help maintain the stability of the current administration.”
Cholnan has rejected speculation that he was removed from his ministerial post for failing to drive policy or work effectively.
He pointed to clear progress under his term, especially regarding changes in the universal healthcare scheme that give recipients access to treatment at any public hospital nationwide. The first two of four phases in the plan have already been implemented.
But Cholnan appears to have foreseen his fate in the Cabinet reshuffle. In the weeks leading up to the shake-up, he was rarely seen at the ministry, preferring to spend time on work trips to hospitals around the country.
“It remains to be seen if Cholnan will survive as a Nan MP given that he has lost credibility in the eyes of the public,” Olarn commented.
By Thai PBS World’s General Desk
