BANGKOK — Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas on Thursday defended photos circulating online that show them with a South African businessman suspected of involving a major transnational scam network, as the government faces growing political pressure over its handling of severe flooding in southern Thailand.
The images, widely shared on social media this week, show Anutin and Ekniti posing with Ben Smith, a South African national identified by authorities as an influential figure in a suspected transnational scam network whose assets worth more than 9 billion baht ($310 million) were seized by Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office.
Facing mounting criticism late Wednesday, Anutin told reporters the next morning that the photos were taken in 2014, the first time he met Smith. He said he knew Smith only through “a friend of a friend” and had encountered him “five or six times” at events, but denied any personal ties.
When asked whether the sudden spread of the photos was politically motivated — including claims it followed his refusal to grant Smith Thai citizenship — Anutin laughed and said, “They say that was the reason.”
He added that the issue was previously used to pressure him to leave the Interior Ministry for the Health Ministry under the former Pheu Thai-led government. Anutin declined that shift and later pulled his Bhumjaithai Party out of the coalition.
Pressed on whether the controversy affected the government’s willingness to target Smith’s network, Anutin replied, “Me? Afraid to go after them? You really do not know me.”
Pheu Thai Party spokesperson Seuksit Srijomkwan rebutted Anutin’s remarks, saying the party did not remove him from the interior minister post because of Ben Smith’s citizenship issue. The only reason, he said, was Anutin’s incompetence — from delays in cutting power and water to call-center scam hubs while waiting for ribbon-cutting ceremonies, to what he described as poor crisis management during the floods.
Seuksit said hundreds of thousands of people in the central region have been submerged for four months, with widespread damage now hitting the South. He added that Anutin may be the prime minister who has taken the least time to prove that “you have no idea what you’re doing.”
The Pheu Thai Party spokesperson also commented on the photos of Anutin and Ben Smith circulating on social media, saying it is evident that they were taken in multiple places, at different times, and on various occasions. There are pictures of them dining together and traveling abroad together.
“This makes it difficult to dismiss the relationship as merely ‘a friend of a friend,’ and suggests a deeper connection. It also raises the question of why, during Anutin’s tenure as interior minister, action against scammers was slower than it should have been,” Saksit said.
Finance Minister Ekniti also addressed photos showing him exchanging business cards with Smith. He said the images were taken about five years ago, before the pandemic, when he was teaching in a senior executive program organized by the Royal Thai Police.
He said Smith approached him at the event, initiated a brief conversation, and exchanged business cards. “There was no contact after that,” he said.
Ekniti added that he is still adjusting to the political environment, saying he entered the government with the intention of serving the country. While Anutin has asked him to stay on after the next election, he said he has not yet decided.
For now, he said, his priority is performing well in his current role, though he acknowledged the incident will factor into his decision about his political future.
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