MP denies adultery

MP denies adultery, vows to sue Chuwit
Published on December 23, 2005
A Thai Rak Thai MP publicly accused of adultery by Chat Thai MP Chuwit Kamolvisit yesterday summoned reporters to a press conference at 2.30am at the three-star Emerald Hotel to deny the allegations.
Khon Kaen MP Mukda Phongsombat also vowed to sue the maverick Chuwit for ruining her reputation.
Mukda stood alongside her husband and a lady named “Da”, whom she claimed Chuwit had confused her with.
Mukda, 53, ruled out Chuwit’s allegation that she had an affair with Sathit Piyaprai, a chauffeur to a former MP, and tried to steal him from his wife Samruey.
“Da is a heroine of Khon Kaen,” Mukda said in tears. “She dares to be here tonight to save my family and my political career because she cannot stand the injustice of which I am the victim.”
Da appeared wearing sunglasses and a long-brimmed hat, claiming she didn’t want to be identified for safety reasons.
She said she hadn’t had an affair with Sathit either. Da said she knew Sathit five years ago when she was a singer at a club on Ratchadaphisek Road and they had exchanged phone numbers, but never called each other.
In 2003, Da said she received a phone call from Samruey, warning her to stay away from Sathit. She paid no attention to the call, figuring Samruey was crazy.
Mukda called yesterday’s press conference after Chuwit and Samruey appeared together on Tuesday, when Samruey accused Mukda of having an affair with her husband Sathit.
Samruey said she had recognised Mukda’s voice when she called asking Sathit to go out with her.
Samruey also claimed she had read text messages on her husband’s mobile phones a few times. They said things such as: “Da cannot live without you.”
Samruey said she believed “Da” was in fact Mukda.
“I don’t believe a singer could have such influence over my husband,” she said, adding that the person must have been an influential figure like Mukda.
One reporter commented that 2.30am was a strange time for a press conference, suggesting that MPs generally convened such events at Parliament during daylight hours, because that way political reporters would attend.
The reporter went on to suggest that calling a press conference in the middle of the night meant only night-shift reporters turned up, and they were good at reporting crime, but generally pretty lazy when it came to asking questions. Samruey visited the Temple of the Emerald Buddha on Wednesday and took an oath that she had told the whole truth.
Chuwit first raised the issue last Friday, when he accused a female Thai Rak Thai MP, whom he did not name, of having an affair with a chauffeur.
On Saturday, Mukda came forward to say that she was the one Chuwit was accusing. She challenged Chuwit to take an oath before the revered Emerald Buddha. That way, she said, whoever had lied to the public would be dead within seven days. But after Samruey met with the press, Mukda said taking such an oath was unnecessary, because she didn’t want to lower herself to Chuwit’s level. Mukda said she intended to sue Chuwit for fabricating the story.