“14th floor” controversy rages on

What was missing from the prime minister’s public “assurance” that her father Thaksin Shinawatra was really ill was critical. She did not say the word “critical.”

Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the whole Thaksin defence have been making the same questionable moves. In trying to confirm he needed medical help upon his return from exile, they have managed to increase doubts about the claimed illness.

As a politician posted on his Facebook, a coughing fit with a bit of a fever is “illness”. So, the prime minister might not lie. The point of contention, however, is the question whether Thaksin’s “illness” was critical enough to warrant a transfer to the Police Hospital.

All dictionaries say “critical” is an adjective used to amplify seriousness of a situation. When used with general problems like flooding or a red balance sheet, it means potentially disastrous. When used with a medical condition of someone, it means “extremely ill and/or at risk of death.”

This is what Paetongtarn said earlier this week: “My father, 72 years old, was infected with COVID-19 before he returned to Thailand, and he has medical records from foreign doctors.”

Her public statement raised more questions. For instance, how many prisoners had COVID-19 before, during and after Thaksin’s arrival? How many were that old or older and how many inmates who were very old and who had (or had had) COVID-19 were moved to the Police Hospital?

How many of them required such a long hospital stay?

And why did a 72-year-old man who had (or had had) COVID-19 with recorded warnings from foreign doctors and who had spent almost 200 days at a hospital go on to speak at political rallies virtually immediately after his medical treatment?

She did not address these questions, which have glaring ideological aspects concerning equality and privileges, something the Pheu Thai Party cannot be seen as being on the wrong side of.

Paetongtarn appeared to be right about one thing, though. She suggested that there was nothing she or her government could do to erase doubts, which had been whispered about until the Medical Council turned them into a full-blown uproar days ago.

Technically, there are things the highest authorities, like the public health minister, can still do to repair or delay the legal damage. But politically, the noose has been tightened and there is apparently no way back.

The Medical Council has come too far to reverse its action, and Pheu Thai cannot expect help from its ally-turned-foe, the People’s Party.

From the People’s Party’s perspective, trying to get Pheu Thai off the 14th floor hook means supporting the very incident that completely destroyed its hope of becoming a government and thus implementing its agenda. The “Orange” people will keep sitting on the fence.

In a related development, the chief doctor of the Police General Hospital, Pol Lt-Gen Thaweesilp Wechvitarn, has put himself firmly in the spotlight by asking Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin to review the Medical Council’s stance.

In his appeal to Somsak, the chief doctor claimed that the Medical Council’s enquiry might not have covered all the aspects pertaining to the health conditions of Thaksin and the hospital is meant to present additional evidence which the Medical Council may not have considered.

Noticeably, Thaweesilp’s public move critically missed the same thing that Paetongtarn missed. He did not to talk about how “critical” Thaksin was at that time.

In addition to that, the Thai public saw a “concerned” daughter and the highest supervisor at the Police Hospital failing to do what they should have done. They failed to ensure that an old man so ill that he had to stay for months in a hospital kept away from activities that could endanger his “fragile” health.

Also, Thaweesilp’s appeal can boomerang against the doctor himself. Critics and doubters have warned that the mentioned “additional evidence” that the Medical Council might have failed to consider could make the already-messy ball of yarn get messier.

In short, the accusers say one lie could lead to another.

Thaweesilp would now have to present the “additional evidence” and be forced to disclose publicly what it was. He would get away with it if the “evidence” makes sense. If it does not, he would be at the centre stage himself instead of being peripheral at the moment.

First of all, Thaweesilp will need to explain why a “critically ill” Thaksin was immediately put in the “VIP room” shown by Thai Pakdee Party chairman Warong Dechgitvigrom in a viral video this week.

The room does not look like a place for any person in critical medical conditions, let alone someone considered a prisoner. Just when Thaweesilp talks about “additional evidence”, one glaring “evidence” has come up and it will not help his case.

The luxurious nature of the room had always been expected, but Warong’s timing has been all but perfect. His footage followed the Medical Council action which is renewing public interest in the 14th floor controversy.

Political analysts say the 14th floor issue would not have been this hot if the relationship between Pheu Thai and the conservatives had not been so rocky.

In other words, how “critical” Thaksin was when put on the 14th floor of the Police Hospital would not have been such a “critical” question if the relationship had not been so “critical.”