Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao has filed a defamation lawsuit against a citizen who commented on Facebook about a parliamentary censure debate in which a People’s Party MP raised concerns about a scam network allegedly linked to Thai politicians. Thammanat disclosed that he has filed 270 defamation cases related to the issue.

46-year-old Tharathon Sarasuk from Saraburi Province faces a defamation charge filed by Deputy PM Thammanat for his comment on Facebook referring to MP Rangsiman Rome’s speech in parliament about a scam network allegedly linked to Thai politicians, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

After the People’s Party MP raised the issue, Thammanat told the media on 2 October that he had initiated legal proceedings against those involved in the censure debate on this issue and against 270 netizens who commented about it.

During the censure debate, MP Rangsiman questioned the Deputy PM’s relationship with Ben Smith, also known as Benjamin Mauerberger, who is allegedly involved in scam network operations in Cambodia. The scrutiny followed the release of a photo showing Thammanat together with former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and Mauerberger, which was published by prominent investigative journalist Tom Wright.

Thammanat also noted that if they ‘dared to fight him’, they must be prepared to appear in court in Phayao Province. The Deputy PM added that he planned to file additional cases in Tak and Narathiwat provinces, presumably because defendants would have to spend time and money answering charges in these distant provinces .

Sompop Rattanawalee, Workpoint TV’s news director, also faces the same charge.

On Monday (1 December), another citizen Suphaphorn Phosri revealed that she had received a summons in a case filed by Thammanat at Phayao Police Station. The charge stems from her Facebook post about Thammanat’s qualifications, which have been questioned by the general public. In her post, she is alleged to have said that instead of clarifying, Thammanat chose to threaten those who questioned him. 

According to TLHR, during the 2019 general election, Thammanat, then an MP candidate for the Palang Pracharath Party in Phayao Province, filed an array of charges against Phayao residents and university students who posted Facebook criticisms of Party MPs during the election campaign.

Thammanat has been a controversial political figure since he served time in prison in connection with a drug trafficking conviction in Australia in 1994. Despite multiple scandals, his political rise has secured him influential positions. Prior to his current role, Thammanat served as Agriculture Minister under former PMs Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and Srettha Thavisin.

Regarding the drug trafficking case, Thammanat said during a censure debate in 2020 that the Australian Court convicted him by mistake, as the heroin in fact ‘was flour,’ (มันคือแป้ง), an excuse which has gone viral on Thailand’s social media platforms.

The Constitutional Court was asked to rule whether Thammanat was disqualified from holding a ministerial post because of his drug conviction in Australia. The Court ruled that as his conviction was by an Australian court not a Thai court, he was not disqualified.