Senator sparks handbag spat with student activist

A senator has urged the National Security Council (NSC) to look into the finances of Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, an anti-government protest leader, after she was seen flaunting a brand-name handbag worth more than 200,000 baht.

Senator Jet Siratharanont said the NSC and related agencies needed to examine the wealth of a protest leader, a reference to Ms Panusaya.

He said she appeared to be unusually rich as a picture of her carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag estimated to be worth 221,000 baht has been circulated on social media. The senator said the source of her wealth is unknown and a probe would shed light on that.

He also urged authorities to speed up criminal investigations against protest leaders for staging street rallies. Some of the possible charges they face include violations of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, more commonly known as the lese majeste law.

Sen Jet said Ms Panusaya’s prodemocracy movement was reported to have received many donations. He also noted that the protest leader, a Thammasat University student, does not have a full-time job.

“There might be people out there who want to be political activist leaders after seeing these leaders getting richer,” he said.

“The more people seeking to become political movement leaders, the more chaotic the country will be, which might not be good for the economy and society,” the senator added. He said Ms Panusaya should disclose her financial transactions for transparency.

Ms Panusaya responded on Facebook by saying that there was no cause to be alarmed about her wealth.

Another anti-government activist, Wanwalee “Thee Payao” Thammasattaya, shared Ms Panusaya’s post and questioned Sen Jet’s motives by raising the wealth issue.

She said Ms Panusaya is from a welloff family, so her wealth should not be an issue.