Rift rumours fly as Prawit skips cabinet meet
published : 6 Oct 2022 at 09:19
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassana Nanuam
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon took sick leave on Wednesday and missed the first cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha following his return to Government House.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Prayut could carry on serving as prime minister, potentially until 2025 should he win next year's general election.
Prawit's absence on Wednesday followed rumours that he was offended by remarks made by the premier on Monday during a teleconference call about the flood situation.
Prayut was quoted as telling the meeting that he did not want to see any welcoming committees.
"I'm healthy and can take care of myself. Please take care of people in need of assistance. I'm not a burden," Prayut was quoted as saying.
A spokesman of Prawit said the deputy prime minister, who made visits to several central provinces on Monday, fell ill with fever.
He tested negative for Covid-19.
Following the cabinet meeting, Prayut said he would pay a visit to Prawit at his house, but refused to respond when asked if Prawit was sulking in response to his comments.
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Vocabulary
- absence: a period of time when a person is not present at work, at school, at home, etc. - ช่วงเวลาที่ไม่อยู่, ช่วงการขาดงาน
- burden: a serious or difficult responsibility that you have to deal with - ภาระ
- cabinet: the group of government ministers who make and approve government policy - คณะรัฐมนตรี
- committee: a group of people who are chosen, usually by a larger group, to make decisions or to deal with a particular subject - คณะกรรมการ
- Constitutional Court (noun): the court that decides whether or not laws follow the constitution - ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ
- general election (noun): an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections (Source: Wikipedia) - การเลือกตั้งทั่วไป
- offended: upset because of something said that is rude or embarrassing - ขุ่นเคือง
- potentially: possible in the future - ที่อาจเกิดขึ้นได้
- remarks (noun): something said - คำพูด
- rift: a serious disagreement between two people or groups - ความแตกร้าว
- rumours (noun): pieces of information, or a story, that people talk about, but that may not be true - ข่าวลือ
- sulky (adjective): bad-tempered or not speaking because you are angry or upset about something - ซึ่งโกรธไม่พูดไม่จา, เคืองใจ,อารมณ์บูดบึ้ง
