Irked by questions, Thailand PM sprays sanitiser on journalists, video goes viral

Irked by questions, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha recently sprayed sanitiser on journalists at a recent press conference. A video of the bizarre moment has gone viral.

Bringing an abrupt and unexpected end to a recent interaction at the Government House in Bangkok, the retired army general, who has been in power since a 2014 military coup, walked towards reporters and sprayed alcohol mist on their faces before walking away.

According to Strait Times, the top leader grew irritated when asked about a list of potential candidates for vacant Cabinet posts, following last week’s jailing of three of his ministers for insurrection during protests seven years ago.

“Is there anything else to ask?” he said from the podium, according to a Reuters report. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. Isn’t it something the prime minister should know first?” the report further quoted him as saying.

Thai prime minister sprays hand sanitizer at journalists who are seen trying to shield their faces pic.twitter.com/rEcOeqYxCt

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 9, 2021

The video showed the Thai PM casually dousing journalists sitting in the front row with the sanitiser while covering his own mouth with a mask.

As the crew kept following him with their mobile phones recording his remark, he stopped for a while to speak to them whilst spraying from the bottle, increasingly vexed.

This is not the first time the PM had an angry moment with the press or did something bizarre to evade questions. Known for his unpredictable behaviour, he refused to talk to the press at an event in 2018 where he unveiled a life-sized cut-out of himself. “Ask this guy,” he said pointing to the picture and walked away.

According to The Thaiger, back in 2014, the PM tossed a banana peel at a Thairath TV camera crew after being told to face the camera. In the same year, the PM was also caught on camera patting a reporter’s head and tugging his ear.