BANGKOK, Sept 10 (TNA) –
The Thai minister under fire, Captain Thamanat Prompow, says he will
take legal action on those behind an Australian media report that says he
served four years in Sydney jail for drug smuggling in 1993.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives avoided
reporters when he arrived at Government House for the weekly Cabinet meeting on
Tuesday morning. He waved at the army of
reporters and did not give any comments as he quickly walked into the building.
But later in the afternoon, Thamanat told reporters that the
Australian newspaper’s report was drummed up by his enemies, saying “the
Australian newspaper did not just compile the report out of the sudden to
attack me.”
There was a conspiracy and those behind it would be revealed
later as his lawyers were working on both criminal and civil lawsuits, he said.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s article published on Monday is
titled “From Sinister to Minister: Politician’s Drug Trafficking Jail Time
Revealed.” It gives details of the
54-year-old politician’s involvement in an attempt to smuggle US$4 million
worth of heroin from Bangkok to Sydney.
The Australian newspaper says the article is based on court
documents in the case 26 years ago that ended with Captain Thamanat being
handed six years in jail. He served the
jail term for four years before being deported.
However, Thamanat maintained that he was detained for eight
months and there were more details that he could not reveal.
“It is an old story.
Let’s focus on the future. I
would rather work to solve problems for the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior ministers — Deputy Prime Minister Prawit
Wongsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and Interior Minister
Anupong Paochina — refused to comment on the article. They all said there was only Thamanat to
clarify to the public.
Wissanu, who is in charge of legal affairs, said earlier
during the formation of the current government that Thamanat had never been
convicted by a Thai court for a crime and therefore, no legal impediment to his
appointment.(TNA)
