Not much of an apology: Health minister Anutin unrepentant after face mask tirade against "farang"

 

 

Thailand's Public Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul has refused to apologise for suggesting that foreigners who don't wear face masks should be thrown out of Thailand. 

 

Anutin was furious that a "farang" refused to accept his offer of a mask at a public event. He said the offer was made in a good spirit and it was wrong of the foreigner to criticize the Thais for helping out and being concerned about their health. 

 

He went on Facebook to explain himself - but there was no apology, only to reporters. 

 

If anything, he only added fuel to the fire. 

 

A fire that became a firestorm of angry reaction especially from foreigners on social media yesterday. 

 

He said he was not angry at being criticized though he took exception at the foreigner who criticized the kind and concerned Thai actions in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

 

If farangs are not prepared to wear masks they shouldn't come to Thailand during this time, he said.

 

He said his actions were not wrong. He would do it again and would not apologize to that person ( apparently there was only one who refused his offer of a mask and set him off).

 

"If you are not prepared to follow our advice at this time then don't bother coming," he stated. 

 

He said that the foreigner didn't know the measures his government and health teams were putting in place to alleviate the situation and it was unfair of the person to criticize. 

 

He said his offer of a mask was done in a spirit of kindness and concern. 

 

Foreigners should not look down on Thais, he said. He said that he has lots of nice foreign friends. 

 

But any racist foreigner is not his friend, he intimated.

 

He said wearing a mask was a simple gesture to protect yourself and others. 

 

He praised the reaction of his government to the crisis and admitted it was just one farang that set him off. 

 

He said that Thailand is letting everyone in - not like some countries that are banning Chinese, for example. 

 

But people who visit should behave appropriately, was his overriding message.

 

He apologised to reporters for his strong language and said he had work to do.

 

He also commented on foreign news media, that had subtitles on his rant, with a vague warning.

 

Daily News said in their online headline: "The day will never come when I will apologize to foreigners".

 

Source: Facebook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-02-08

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

 

 

So the country and its officials blunder blindly forward. 

7 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

If farangs are not prepared to wear masks they shouldn't come to Thailand during this time, he said.

i see , so thai that ride motorcycles and don't use helmuts should have to walk; what an idiot

10 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"The day will never come when I will apologize to foreigners".

purest racism

https://www.livescience.com/face-mask-new-coronavirus.html?fbclid=IwAR3_UT1d5vMSt7hy5bR987Kz1M5b_OUtl6WDDERCzRsPKBF8ClH-yTja2uE

Maybe just maybe we don't wear a mask for a reason.

He should be fired immediately for 2 reasons 

1. being a health minister, he should at least know this mask protects from nothing 

2. telling tourists to get out because they do not want to wear useless mask At the time of tourist crisis is beyond retarded

The fact he hasn't be censured speaks volumes

3 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

purest racism

I think it's more xenophobic than racist but he is a complete piece of <deleted>

A single foreigner refused, which he took as justification to slag off every single farang here? And he won't apologise? There are many things I could say about his suitability for office and overall intelligence, but as a moderator, I shall refrain from the worst of it and simply say, unacceptable.

Not only is Anutin uneducated as to proper protection against a virus, he displayed the type of inferiority complex Thais are well known for. The apology even revealed his contempt for "Farang" during a period of extreme loss of tourists in which Thailand must depend on non-Chinese for tourism income. European tourists that planned to come to Thailand may well change their minds due to Thailands lack of real contagious virus controls and a high ranking official's racist comments. 

11 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

purest racism

And this is where our spineless western governments need to do something. Imagine if a health minister in UK or AU or US said he would never apologise to asians ? There would be outrage and most likely riots not to mention letters of protest from every Asian country , but when tables are turned , our spineless governments keep quite

Edited February 8, 20206 yr by BestB

Look at his own FB. He is not even wearing his mask himself, even before or after the media event.

 

He might not to apologize to foreigners, but the day will soon come, when he has to admit an outbreak to all Thais and him hiding the true numbers of infected.

18 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

But any racist foreigner is not his friend, he intimated.

However, He reserves the right to be a racist xenophobe.

He should apologise for being a health minister who knows nothing about health.

 

I give him 2 days and he will be removed from office and probably end up in some massage parlour.

Edited February 8, 20206 yr by spiekerjozef

Who cares what they say. Its a two way street. Look at all the negative/ condescending comments about Thais by foreigners around here.

The Thais of course all accepted the facemasks.

 

I've never seen a Thai turn down a freebie!????

It is glorious watching the meltdown.

 

And this is just the beginning.

 

So much more enjoyment to come.

1 minute ago, morrobay said:

Who cares what they say. Its a two way street. Look at all the negative/ condescending comments about Thais by foreigners around here.

The only difference no one here is a minister or member of a government 

Foreigners should not look down on Thais, he said. He said that he has lots of nice foreign friends. 

 

But any racist foreigner is not his friend, he intimated.

 

55555555555555555. I'm just wondering who the real racist here is? 

He later apologized, but not to foreigners. He said he was sorry for losing it. He despises foreigners, as he is a racist, a bigot a xenophobe, and a fake nationalist. He knows nothing about anything. He has no background in health. If he knew anything he would be encouraging people to scrub their hands thoroughly ten times a day, which is infinitely more effective than wearing a mask. But, how would he know that? After all, he is only the health minister. 

A post using a trolling meme has been removed. 

5 minutes ago, madmitch said:

The Thais of course all accepted the facemasks.

they are pretty handy for cleaning the alloy wheels of your bike

One foreigner refused the mask. He was probably shocked at being offered something for free in Thailand and thought there had to be a catch.

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

He knows nothing about anything.

Hopefully he knows to wipe his bottom with his left hand...

if the minister runs out of face masks he can wear a panty liner instead - I look forward to him providing a demonstration

34 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"The day will never come when I will apologize to foreigners".

Sure sign he suffers from small genitalier syndrome!

A Health minister handing out supposedly sanitary facemarks with his grubby hands in a dirty BTS station and he is surprised someone refused?

 

Thai's refuse nothing and probably went back for more to resell to their own family.

 

I did like these 2 conflicting lines.

 

"He said that the foreigner didn't know the measures his government and health teams were putting in place to alleviate the situation"

 

and then...

 

"He said that Thailand is letting everyone in - not like some countries that are banning Chinese, for example. "

 

Sir, with all due respect...you're an idiot.

Well, there you go. Anutin here is displaying another 'awkward' aspect of the Thai pooyay's psychology. Never admit you made a mistake, you'll lose face if you do.

 

Inevitable really, as the English say, "after the Lord Mayor's procession, comes the dustcart..."

 

It isn't going to improve, this is what Thailand accepts, so this is what Thailand deserves. I just wish there were some foreign journalists ready at hand to publicise this guy's behviour, but I guess that Thailand just isn't important enough.

 

I expected Prayut and Newin to force him into public prostration mode, but maybe they're hoping it will all go away. Or he gets to go on the next Wuhan airlift.

 

This isn't much worse than having a cabinet minister fending off accusations of a heroin conviction and dodgy academic credentials.

 

Farang think too mut.

 

 

18 minutes ago, morrobay said:

Who cares what they say. Its a two way street. Look at all the negative/ condescending comments about Thais by foreigners around here.

Many of which are well-deserved judging by this behaviour.