Drawing back the veil
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| Parina |
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| Tim, Tye |
Parina, an outspoken four-times MP who earlier came to prominence criticising Future Forward MP Pannika “Chor” Wanich, last week widened her attack to include fellow Future Forward newcomer Pita “Tim” Limjaroenrat, recently praised for a speech in the House on helping farmers, but also under fire from his former wife for the way he treated her.
Tim’s speech, during the government’s policy debate earlier this month, won praise from Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda and netizens at large, who named him among rising stars in the House. Harvard-educated Tim is a former CEO of the Agrifoods rice bran giant, founded in 2006 with his father.
The publicity evidently upset Parina, who urged Gen Anupong to reconsider, accusing Tim of “stealing” the government’s own farming policies, and promoting pie-in-the-sky notions of farmers selling rice for 30,000 baht a tonne.
However, she also drew on comments in a recent Club Friday TV interview by his ex-wife, former actress Chutima “Tye” Teepanart, who accused Tim of domestic abuse and subjecting her to a nightly 6pm curfew, which she said prevented her from seeing friends.
Parina unleashed a volley of posts criticising Tim, in which she asked if new-breed politicians must carry on in such a poor manner.
“I would like to give you strength ... now you have left him you can come home at 6.30 if you like,” Parina wrote sarcastically, in a message to Tye.
Tim, said Tye, also forbade her from mixing with gays or toms, and frowned upon her complimenting a lead actor as being “sexy”. For that, she had to beg for forgiveneness at his feet.
In a subsequent TV interview, she also revived claims of spousal abuse against Tim. The couple filed for divorce last November after a 10-year marriage and are now fighting for custody over their young child.
Parina said she was shocked to hear the claims. “I would like to ask my fans what they would do if they complimented the lead actor in the Marvel movies as handsome and in doing so bought a fight with their lovers, who demanded they prostrate at their feet ... would you do it, or not?
“As far as I am concerned, I would agree to do it ... then call my relatives and ask them to come around and help pack up my stuff because I’m leaving,” she said.
The personal nature of the attacks upset a TV host who conducted the initial interview, Puwanart ‘‘Aun’’ Kunpalin, who said debating Tim’s fitness for parliament was one thing, but drawing on domestic understandings between husband and wife was below the belt.
“What kind of thought process gave rise to such comments?” he asked.
“You have taken a personal matter and cast judgement. I always keep in mind the fact that I need to hear from both sides. Tim’s words in the House have won wide praise because they were constructive.
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| Aun |
“I feel worried for our country when I see the quality of those who claim to represent us,” he said, referring to Parina.
Parina, however, insisted said the matters she raised were of public interest.
“Tye was a successful woman who threw away everything for a man she loved only to find oddities in their marriage which later led to their parting. Violence in marriage is common and we need to teach our young women what to do if they encounter it,” she said.
“Aun should sympathise with Tye, because women should stick together. If Tye hadn’t divorced Tim, there’s no way he would let her mix with the likes of you,” she retorted, referring to scuttlebutt that Aun, who is married, is actually gay.
Her post also suggested Aun, who stood unsuccessfully for a seat on the Bangkok city council 13 years ago, had flunked the test of public opinion. Her remarks prompted the threat of legal action by Aun’s elder sister and former Pheu Thai MP Anne Kunpalin. They have also spurred a petition at Change.org by Thais who say Parina’s remarks are divisive and want her ousted as an MP.
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| Anne |
Going back to her remarks on the Club Friday show, Tye said she had to enter an agreement with her husband. “If I had some errand to do, I had to do it before 6pm. If it was something I had to do at night, he wouldn’t let me leave home,” Tye told her hosts.
“Tim said we were now husband and wife, not merely partners, so things had changed. He wanted me to stay at home as a full-time housewife and mum. He paid me an allowance and even put me through cooking classes.”
After they had been together a year she asked if she could renegotiate the agreement, without success. “I asked to be allowed out to 8pm one night a week because I was missing my friends, most of whom worked office hours. I couldn’t see them at weekends either because Tim regarded them as family days,” she said.
The interest in the couple’s private life, which coincides with Tim’s recent rise to prominence in the House, comes amid the couple’s custody battle over their three-year old daughter.
Tye lost the latest round of the battle in April when a court threw out her claims that Tim had harmed her during their marriage. After an 11-hour hearing, the Family Court awarded Tim dominant custody rights to their daughter, Nong PiPim.
Tye last week thanked fans on social media for their support. “Many have asked how I was able to put up with such treatment. I made my choices, and I thought he was the most important one in my life,” she said.
Tim, who has not commented on the row, posted a picture of him with their daughter, saying his duties were different from those of his ex-wife. The row continues.
TB no barrier to deception
Former actor Poomthanawat “Tear” Boonluepradit, who is fighting tuberculosis and appealed for donations in a series of teary social media posts, has apologised after lying about the amount he had raised.
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| Tear |
Tear, accompanied by model Amalawan “Ammy” Sirikittirat, who helped him raise money to treat the illness which has stricken his liver and lymph nodes, went before the media last week to open up about the saga.
Earlier, a TV news show visited him and his ailing mother in Chiang Mai, where they found that his condition was not quite what it appeared.
Early last month, Tear, 41, posted a clip in which he said he was confined to bed with his illness, and had gone through 100,000 baht in treatment costs. He said he and his mother, who has diabetes, were living in subsidised housing and having a tough time.
Ammy, who did not know the former actor, shared the clip with her large following, with the result that he pulled in an impressive 8 million baht in donations from well-wishers, though the balance was not known at the time. He carried on posting to social media virtually daily for a month, often in tears and with details of his bank account.
After posting on July 21 saying he feared he did not have long to live, netizens started asking why he was not using their donated money to pay for treatment. A news crew from Amarin TV visited him in Chiang Mai two days later, when he lied to reporters, claiming he had raised just 50,000 baht.
During their visit, the TV crew also noticed various other oddities. Tear and his mum were now living in a private home with a car out the front. He explained away the items, saying the car was his own but in the process of being repossessed; the car belonged to an aunt who rented it to him for 2,000 baht a month.
On a subsequent visit by the TV crew, when Tear revised the donations total to 500,000 baht, he also changed his story, saying the house belonged to a former lover, as did the car.
Amid persistent doubts about the balance, Ammy says she later contacted him to ask him to tell the truth.
If he was feeling better, no one would mind, but he would have to stop appealing for funds. She was also worried that if he did not open up, her ability to raise money on behalf of others who fell ill would suffer.
On Wednesday, the pair went before the media, with Tear apologising for misleading the public, and admitting to the real balance of 8 million baht. He said he lied because he was worried credit card companies, to which he owes money, would suspend his account. He also admitted the house belonged to his boyfriend of three years, as did the car.
He had transferred a chunk of the funds to his boyfriend for safekeeping, but for the sake of the public’s peace of mind was willing to have it moved back to a joint account held with his mother, as he intends spending some of the money on her care. He had drawn down the funds by 500,000 baht to pay down debts, including some unrelated to treatment, but was also calling an end to his fund-raising appeal.
His internet appeal for donor funds continued even after the Bureau of Tuberculosis admitted him as a special case at the start of last month, pledging to pay all his expenses, and holding out prospect of a likely cure.
Netizens have since accused him of deceit, with some urging police action. Amid the blizzard of complaints, Tear has now set his FB to private mode. The saga continues.
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