Pakornwut Udompipatakul, list MP from the Prachachon Party (PCHN), explains in detail after being accused by Chris Potranan, list MP from the Economic Party, of threatening finger-pointing in the parliamentary chamber. He insists that approaching to talk is a normal practice among whips. He denounces the false claim regarding telling them to "be careful," saying it was merely an attempt to play up the situation. He indicates he probably will not talk with them again.
On 2 Apr 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Pakornwut Udompipatakul, list MP from the Prachachon Party (PCHN), posted on X describing the incident where Mr. Chris Potranan, list MP from the Economic Party, accused him in a press conference of pointing a finger to threaten inside the parliamentary meeting room. Pakornwut said that as part of the whip coordination committee, it is very normal to walk over to talk to other parties at their seats. He does this almost every day when the parliament is in session. Often when protests arise or when something causes dissatisfaction or does not follow agreed whip arrangements, he walks over to ask directly why they protest over minor issues or why they do not follow the whip agreements.
Pakornwut stated that he believes some matters do not require time in parliament for rebuttal. Walking over to have private, straightforward conversations to clarify and understand each other often ends with apologies after verbal clashes. This is very normal in parliament.
Regarding today’s issue, he approached to understand why, on no fewer than three occasions, that party deliberately tried to interrupt the Prachachon Party specifically and never protested similarly against MPs from other parties. He tried to explain that intentionally disrupting only one party causes the meeting to be less smooth and creates a negative atmosphere among fellow members. He added that if the Prachachon Party did the same to them every time they debated, they would also be displeased. This had nothing to do with the use of chat GPT or any debate content.
"When I approached those MPs, I kept a distance of at least one row to talk. What followed was that the three MPs stood up, left their seats, and started to make a fuss loudly. This caused other MPs to come and restrain both me and the three MPs, even though no physical confrontation had occurred. The images shown may lead some to misunderstand. I must emphasize that walking over to talk to any party at their seats is very common in parliament," Pakornwut said.
Pakornwut added that what he found damaging was the accusation that he said "be careful" and that this was not the first time he used that phrase. He said this accusation is completely false. To him, this incident was insignificant because what he did is normal whip practice, but some people tried to "play it up." He said from now on it will be clear that the other party is unwilling to engage in any talks, so the whip will adhere to this stance in working. However, they remain willing to approach, negotiate, or clarify matters with other parties, regardless of their alignment, as before.