Prime Minister Paethongtarn’ clarified that she did not suspend comments that caused a tour to come down after being heavily criticized for lacking leadership maturity from the iPad drama. She said she just wanted to explain. She asked people not to rush to judge people if the information is incomplete. She accepted that she was just a human being. If there is negative feedback, it is normal to feel sad. She insisted that she sees success as a bigger issue than the trend.
At 10.15 am, Ms. Paethongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister, gave an interview regarding criticism of her use of an iPad in her leadership role, including replying to comments and posting them on Instagram, which led to questions about her leadership. She said that in her work, trends are one thing. Completing work is a big thing. However, sometimes she understands herself, sometimes she feels misunderstood, or that her information is incomplete, so she wanted to explain what happened. She didn’t really think of it as a hanging or anything. E
veryone can set their privacy settings. She just wanted to explain on this topic that sometimes we are too quick to judge others. There must be information to speak like this, which she explained. The iPad is something that everyone around the world uses. Whether to use it or not is up to each person. However, major international meetings should use it. It can be on paper or an iPad, because it will cover all issues and be correct. This is what the media and trends from work are a byproduct. When trends are good, everyone is encouraged, regardless of the sector, whether they are civil servants, celebrities, politicians, or the Prime Minister. If trends are good, everyone is encouraged. It’s human. If trends are negative, it’s normal to be sad, but if you are sad, how do you move forward? How do you make policies move forward? You can’t just sit still because we have our own terms to do our best. Therefore, I would like to focus on pushing forward with various issues. As for what needs to be explained, I can e
xplain it as the reporters interviewed me.
When asked if the opening of the ASEAN Economic Outlook 2025: The Rise of ASEAN, A Renewing Opportunity seminar today seemed like the Prime Minister was not using an iPad too much, Ms. Paetongtarn said that she used ‘ka’ but it was not the same. When she went to speak abroad, it was in English, with specific terms on legal issues and international sensitivities. In fact, she learned some of the words when she became Prime Minister, which was true that these terms had to be used in this matter. If it were in Thai, we already knew it, so it would be much easier. For example, when she gave a speech at the seminar, she used an iPad to look at the topics. Similarly, when she goes to talk internationally, she will also use this to look at the topics.
“But if it’s a sensitive legal matter, I read the whole sentence to avoid mistakes. This is very important because if I make a mistake, I’ll faint. But when there’s a discussion about investment, we turn off the iPad and con
tinue selling our products. But the speed at which we sit at the big meeting table must read every word. This is what the whole world does and must do. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has compiled all the information into 4-6 pages for everyone to read in the meeting. Everyone is on the same page,” said the Prime Minister.
Source: Thai News Agency