Defence minister denies appointing Shinawatra family members

Thailand’s new defence minister Sutin Klungsang denied a report today (Sunday) that he has appointed two members of the Shinawatra family as his chief advisor and secretary.

The report was based on a leaked defence minister order, appointing six individuals to his staff, including Payap Shinawatra, younger brother of former prime minister Thaksin as chief of his advisors, and Porpong, Payap’s son, as his secretary. The order on which the report was based was not, however, signed.

In his Facebook post today, Sutin claimed that the order is a fake, adding that he had not made any appointments at all because he has no authority to do so, until after the delivery of the government’s policy statement to parliament tomorrow.

Yesterday, Sutin attended a workshop on “Thailand’s security under the new world order and geo-politics”, held at Rangsit University.

During the workshop,…