The opposition Palang Pracharath party raised questions today over Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s recent official visit to the UK, challenging her to disclose the full details of the visit, including the funding, whether it used taxpayers’ money and how much it cost.
Pol Maj Gen Piya Tavichai, spokesman for the Palang Pracharath party, asked whether the prime minister was invited to visit the UK, whether she had met with the British prime minister, or any British ministers, and whether any trade deals were concluded with the British private sector.
Referring to the claim that the visit was intended to explore opportunities to expand Thai product sales in the European Union, Piya said he wonders how the visit to the UK could help, because it left the European Union in 2020.
He said the prime minister’s visit to the “Fight City” gym, in London’s Moorgate, purportedly to promote Muay Thai boxing, is questionable because Muay Thai is just a section in the gym and the gym has no capacity to promote Muay Thai as an element of Thailand’s soft power in Britain.
The visit to the Wing Yip superstore will not help expand Thai product sales either, because it is Chinese-owned and the store sells a great variety of products from various countries, including Thailand, said Piya.
He also expressed doubt over the prime minister’s visit to Monaco, to meet F1 management, and whether any concrete deal had been worked out, or whether the images of her with the executives was just a photo opportunity.
The opposition party spokesman went on to say that the prime minister’s meeting with three groups of Thai people, as well as the presentation of certificates to Thai restaurants in London, took place at the same venue, the Thai Embassy, which did not take much time and concluded the official element of the trip to the UK.
Official visits to foreign countries by any prime minister are regarded as important and require taxpayer funding. Hence, the visits must be for the national interest, worth the expenditure and justified, he said.
