Phongthep Thepkanjana

PM appoints Phongthep chief govt whip; Thaksin also names his own advisers
20 March 2005
Bangkok Post
By Tul Pinkaew

Deputy Thai Rak Thai party leader Phongthep Thepkanjana will be appointed chief government whip and the party's chief adviser, Sanoh Thiengthong, top adviser to the government whips, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in his weekly radio address yesterday.

Chairwoman of Thai Rak Thai MPs Yaowapa Wongsawat, on hearing the news, expressed support for Mr Phongthep, reasoning that with his legal expertise and acceptance by MPs in general, the former justice minister would be able to handle the job well.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, Democrat party leader, said the opposition is ready to work with whoever is appointed government chief whip. However, he wants the government and opposition whips to coordinate more closely and flexibly than in the past four years of the Thaksin I government.

In yesterday's radio address, Mr Thaksin also said that he had appointed Mrs Yaowapa, former agriculture minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, former tourism and sports minister Sonthaya Khunpluem, former defence minister Sampun Boonyanun and list MP Sophon Phetsawang as advisers to the prime minister.

Mr Phongthep on Friday showed his reluctance in taking up the post, saying a more experienced person should be appointed.

"I have been saying since before the general election and I still believe in the same philosophy that a person who can lead the coalition MPs' coordination panel, the top government whip post, should not be sidelined in the new government," said Mr Phongthep.

Mr Phongthep, a former judge, was a member of the 1997 constitution drafting committee and one of a few post-Palang Dharma party MPs who helped establish the Thai Rak Thai.

Mr Phongthep, however, told Deputy Interior Minister Somchai Sunthornwat, who chaired the Thai Rak Thai MPs' meeting on Thursday, that he wanted Mr Sanoh to keep his job as he was more senior and very influential.

Mr Sanoh, head of the Wang Nam Yen faction who has been given no active political role in the new government, was chief government whip in the previous Thaksin administration.

Mr Sanoh's removal as chief whip was seen by some critics as an attempt to weaken the already crippled Wang Nam Yen. Many of the faction members have already defected to Mr Thaksin's sister, Mrs Yaowapa, and her Wang Bua Ban faction.