Pro-Junta MP Files Cybercrime Case Against Netizens

Parina Kraikup at the Technology Crime Suppression Division on Friday.

BANGKOK — A pro-junta MP filed a cybercrime complaint on Friday after being flamed online over a video in which she apparently insults a Future Forward spokeswoman.

Parina Kraikup, a Ratchaburi representative of Phalang Pracharath Party, urged police to take legal action against people who left derogatory online comments about her after she posted a video on Tuesday seemingly insulting Pannika “Chor” Wanich of the Future Forward Party.

“They’re writing things that are untrue, such as ‘karee’ [slut] and ‘dok thong’ [bitch],” Parina said. “And if I was an arms dealer, I wouldn’t be here.”

Parina was referring to an arms trafficking charge filed against her in 2014. She insisted on her innocence, but that did not stop hashtag #ArmsDealerParina from taking off earlier this week.

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The online controversy surrounding Parina was ignited when she recorded herself using the rude prefix “E” in a Facebook video Tuesday.

“Go tell E Chor that we should have a Live battle. Let me teach you how to act in parliament properly,” she says in the video.

Parina’s outburst appears to have been prompted by an alleged incident in parliament where Pannika approached a microphone to talk without raising her hand first, a scene previously described by Parina in a Sunday Facebook post.

But netizens were quick to criticize the hypocrisy in Parina’s police complaint.

“So it’s fine if you insult others with ‘E Chor,’ but when it’s your turn to get some, you tattle to the police?” commented user Wao Kung.

Read: #Chitpas1700 : Netizens Squint at Democrat’s Unlikely Victory

In the face of the criticism that she resorted to foul language in her attack on a fellow parliamentarian, Parina has oscillated between admitting that she did insult Pannika and claiming the term was local slang.

“Around my house, they always use ‘E Chor’ to refer to someone who doesn’t respect the rules,” Parina clarified on a recent TV broadcast, as well as today at the Technology Crime Suppression Division.

Her claim has prompted linguists to scramble to dictionaries and the closest Ratchaburi native they can find.

Matichon reported they found no trace of “E Chor” as an insult after searching through historical dictionaries and glossaries dating back to 1447. However, on Thursday a Pantip post dated from 2014 was unearthed classifying “E Chor” as an insult, with some suggesting that a chor – or “bouquet” – represents many dok, meaning both “flower” and “bitch.”

Multiple Ratchaburians have told the media that they’ve never heard E Chor used as slang in their dialect.

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“If every MP acted like E Chor, then parliament would be so chaotic. I’m not just targeting her,” Parina further clarified today.

Meanwhile, Pannika herself has lightheartedly dismissed Parina’s behaviour.

“I won’t retaliate, because I don’t give importance to this,” the Future Forward Party MP said in an interview on Tuesday, smiling. Activist Tanawat Wongchai also posted a video of Pannika laughing at Parina’s Channel 3 interview.