Campaigning for victory in local elections next month may be fierce, but Thaksin Shinawatra has been accused of not just a breach of etiquette but also outright racism at a recent rally.
The speech, made over the weekend in Chiang Rai, saw Pheu Thai Party's alleged de facto leader referring to models from Africa in a manner construed by most observers as highly demeaning.
In encouraging Thai women to find opportunities in the industry, he referred unflatteringly to Africans.
"African people, who have black skin and flat noses that make it difficult to breathe, are hired for millions of baht to be models. Thai people look much better. There's no need for [our people to get] nose, jaw or breast augmentation.
"It's time to encourage more Thais, including those from ethnic groups like the Karen, who possess natural beauty, to become international models," he said.
His ideas about women's beauty, which in his view is "soft power", are outdated and border on sexist. While addressing a crowd in Udon Thani during a Provincial Administration Organisation's chairman poll campaign last month, he praised Isan beauty "that attracts Western men". While his objective was to talk up Isan women, how he phrased it was unacceptable.
Thaksin is known for his plain speaking style, but eloquence is not part of his speaking style. A recent run of PAO election successes, including wins in Udon Thani and Ratchaburi, may have left him feeling positive, if not overconfident, as he stuck to his guns while making further controversial claims.
During his speech in the northern province, he also scolded government critics in northern dialect and likened them to kwai or buffaloes -- an impolite term meaning "stupid". He even used the verb hao, which means "bark", for those criticising his daughter and used other ugly terms usually reserved for animals in a statement as rude as it was blunt.
He told a jeering crowd that government critics are pessimists he would gladly "send a rope" (to hang themselves with), and also labelled those who criticise his daughter PM Paetongtarn as armchair psychoanalysts who do not get enough love from their spouses.
But to embrace racism and insult African people for their skin colour and physical attributes is going too far.
Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit, who champions human rights protection, has called for Thaksin to apologise, saying "such remarks violate the constitution and the norms of various international organisations, which Thailand is a party to".
It's not unusual for politicians to go overboard verbally. In 2019, then deputy prime minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon made a blunder when he inappropriately reacted to a deadly terrorist attack at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, by making a light-hearted comment. It was an embarrassment.
Thaksin should know he has no right to insult anyone. Yet, there is no sign that he is repentant or that the ruling Pheu Thai will step in to censure him. Perhaps the party may try to distance itself from the remarks by noting that Thaksin holds no party position. But it's indisputable he represents it, and his offensive and insulting words reflect poorly on the party as a whole.
