Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is once again a trending topic on social media, after netizens found him easily ‘shocked’ by too many issues, most of which are common knowledge in Thai society.
He was even dubbed the “spooked premier.”
This criticism has reached such a level that users of the X platform have compiled a collection of times when Srettha expressed his shock. This collection quickly went viral, garnering hundreds of likes and shares.
Some examples of the prime minister expressing his surprise include February 22nd, when Srettha mentioned on X a report stating that farmers were resorting to burning sugar cane leaves before harvest, to make the harvesting and transportation process more cost effective. This is a practice which causes air pollution.
Srettha wrote: “I received a report which states that a total of two million tonnes of sugar cane in Suphan Buri and Lop Buri provinces were burnt before being sent to the refineries. I was shocked to learn these numbers.”
Netizens were surprised that their prime minister was not aware of the problem, as Thailand has suffered from the pollution caused by farm waste burning practices for decades.
They also wondered why he singled out just two provinces, as the practice is common in many.
On February 8, during a parliamentary session, he again claimed to be ‘shocked’ that people sold kratom leaf juice in many crowded places in Bangkok.“It’s quite a shock to me that kratom juice is easily bought at almost every intersection in the capital,” he said.
File photo : PM Srettha Thavisin speaks in a parliamentary session.
The presence of kratom juice stalls on almost every street corner in Bangkok is a common sight. Some netizens criticised Srettha for travelling by motorcade but never noticing what is happening on the roadside.
Srettha then ordered crackdowns on the sale of kratom, despite the fact that the plant was removed from the list of prohibited substances in 2021.
On December 21st last year, Srettha again expressed shock upon learning that Thailand’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest in 71 years.
Many netizens criticised him because the low birth rates has been known about for years, as many couples choose not to have children due to the associated economic burden.
by Charinya Limprapuwiwattana, Marisa Chimprabha
