A member of the Parliament in Thailand was left red-faced after he was caught looking at pornographic images on his smartphone. Ronnathep Anuwat was supposed to be paying attention to a budget reading when shocked reporters spotted him scrolling through explicit images on his phone, reports the Daily Mail.
The politician reportedly spent around 10 minutes viewing the images on his phone on Wednesday evening. The whole thing was caught on camera by reporters sitting in the gallery of the parliament in Bangkok. The reporters snapped pictures of the MP, who represents Chonburi province for ruling military Palang Pracharath Party, which have gone viral on social media.
Some pictures even show Mr Anuwat removing his face mask to get a better look at the NSFW images on his smartphone.
According to Metro News, the parliamentarian was confronted by reporters and admitted to looking at pornographic pics.
However, he made the bizarre excuse that the pictures were unsolicited and that he received them on the app 'Line'. Mr Anuwat told local media that the woman in the pictures was "asking for help" and "wanted money". He claims that he only spent time looking at the images to make sure that she was not in danger.
According to Ladbible, he said he wanted to 'observe the environment surrounding the girl in the picture' as he feared she was 'being harassed by gangsters who had forced her to take the pictures'. Soon, however, he realised that she was asking for money and deleted the pics.
Government officials demanded an explanation from Mr Anuwat but said that no action would be taken against him. House speaker Chuan Leekpai said that it was a 'personal matter' and as no other member of parliament had filed a complaint, no action would be taken against Mr Anuwat.
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