Outspoken Thai parliamentarian Pareena Kraikupt took to her personal Facebook on Thursday to call out media personality Arachaporn “Goy” Pokinpakorn for criticizing the prime minister’s response to Covid.
“Who is she? Is she an actress who is cute or autistic, that she is playing a clown in [TV sitcom] Talok Hok Chak?” the lawmaker wrote in her status. “Is she that broke to use General Prayut to gain popularity?”
Arachaporn, who rose to prominence in popular Thai productions such as Talok Hok Chak, Hormones, and GDH, shared an image of the prime minister with her 1.8 million Instagram followers earlier this week, criticizing him for controversial comments over stay-at-home measures to fight the coronavirus crisis.
“We don’t want to lock the entire country down,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha had said on Monday. “So can you lock yourselves down [at home] please? It’s up to everyone.”
“Others are not like you ka, who can stay home idly for 14-15 days and still have money to spend,” wrote Arachaporn, who is also a popular MC and screenwriter.
Pareena, who represents the Palang Pracharath Party for Ratchaburi province, is a staunch supporter of the administration and known for her outbursts against popular figures and the public.
On her Facebook page Thursday the parliamentarian went on to call out Arachaporn’s rumoured boyfriend and fellow actor Nachat “Nicky” Juntapun for dating a rad, which translates literally as “rhino” but has a meaning more akin to “slut”.
Pareena’s controversial Facebook post sparked a public outcry and went viral within hours, with netizens questioning whether they were appropriate or professional.
“Before meddling in the business of others, can you first please address your own case in encroaching a forest and perform your duty as an MP, so that it is worth our tax money?” a user commented in response to Pareena’s status update.
This is not the first time the embattled MP has come under fire from the public. Most recently she was indicted after a poultry farm she owns was found to be allegedly encroaching on a protected land forest reserve last year, according to news reports.
