Have you ever been caught doing something you shouldn't do in your workplace?
Last Wednesday, Ronnathep Anuwat, Palang Pracharath MP for Chon Buri, was photographed looking at explicit pictures of a young woman on his smartphone while in Parliament.
He tried to explain himself and his explanation was, with due respect, very flaccid. Pun very intended.
He said the young woman contacted him to ask for help via an app that looks an awful lot like Line. Then she sent him the explicit pictures and asked for money so he deleted them. He zoomed in on the pictures because he wanted to make sure that she wasn't in danger or being forced to take them. He went as far as saying that his political rivals are on standby to discredit him and that he was set up for this embarrassing episode.
Reporters captured his unbecoming behaviour from a mezzanine level, which lasted about 10 minutes.
I'm baffled by the fact that someone can be so careless when they know that they are being watched from above with cameras equipped with powerful zooms. One of the captured pictures showed him sending her three messages. If he didn't mean to look at the explicit pictures at work, why didn't he just drop the correspondence instead of typing and sending those messages? To ask her if someone is forcing her to take those pictures? He also took off his mask because he suddenly experienced breathing difficulty? Also, all Line users know that you can see if a picture sent to you is explicit or not in the chat interface but he chose to tap it to get an eyeful. Does he have a very bad eye-sight and didn't know what kind of picture they were at first?
His explanation feels more like a bizarre excuse that convinces no one but himself.
While it's not wrong for him or any red-blooded adults to look at nude pictures or thirst traps on IG when they're curious, they should do it on their own time and money. C'mon, I believe we all have looked up Chris Evans' little captain at this point.
However, Khun Ronnathep isn't just another working stiff (again, pun intended). It's understandable that the public expects someone of his status to conduct themselves better. He's an MP who represents the people, after all, and also gets paid from the taxpayers' money. He also wasn't the first MP to be caught red-faced at work.
Had he apologised and said he was bored out of his mind and needed something to arouse him (as in to awaken from sleep) that dull afternoon and ready to face possible disciplinary action, I would have respected him way more.
What's more concerning is the attempt to avoid taking responsibility and owning up to the truth. That speaks a lot about his character and integrity.