General Preecha Chan-ocha, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s brother, was appointed along with 13 other military generals to the Senate Committee on Tourism, local media reported on Friday.
The opposition have questioned the move and asked if Thailand was looking to promote tourists or go to war.
“Are these 14 generals on the Senate Committee on Tourism supposed to encourage people to go to war or to invite people to travel?” asked Anusorn Iamsa-ard, spokesperson of the Phue Thai Party, the leading opposition party.
Buntham Oris, former deputy director of the Centre for Reconciliation and Reform, said that General Preecha is willing to step in because the position was vacant, not because he was appointed and dismissed accusations of cronyism.
He said the selection for a senate committee can be done via senators volunteering to the position or because they have been selected based on their expertise in the issue at hand.
Of the 19 members of the committee, 12 are generals in the armed forces.
Buntham said the public should be fair to all of the 12 generals by looking at their background on what they have done in the field of tourism first before criticizing their appointment.
