Chaiyamparwaan Manpianjit: 'Man of the people' MP hit by another sex scandal

Bangkok MP Chaiyamparwaan Manpianjit is embroiled in another sex scandal, accused by a Taiwanese tourist of raping her at a Chiang Mai hotel.

In a police complaint filed on January 9, the 25-year-old said she met Chaiyamparwaan at a bar, where they had drinks together. When she got drunk, he offered to accompany her back to her room, where the alleged assault occurred.

The MP denied the rape allegation, maintaining that his intimate encounter with the woman was consensual. However, pressure is growing for him to resign his seat in Parliament, with even his former party colleagues joining calls for him to quit.

After securing an arrest warrant from the Chiang Mai Provincial Court on February 7, police are seeking permission from the House of Representatives to prosecute Chaiyamparwaan during the current parliamentary session. The House is scheduled to convene on February 20 to consider the national police chief’s formal request to arrest the lawmaker.

The Constitution hands parliamentarians immunity from legal prosecution – and possible political persecution – during parliamentary sessions. Article 125 states that during a session, no MP or senator shall be arrested, detained or summoned by a warrant for inquiry as a suspect in a criminal case without permission from the House of which they are a member, except in cases where they are caught red-handed committing a crime.

Repeat offender?

This is not the first time the 35-year-old politician has faced sexual allegations. In November 2023, Chaiyamparwaan was expelled from the Move Forward Party – now known as the People’s Party – after three female campaign assistants accused him of sexual harassment.

Following his expulsion, he joined the Thai Progress Party, which had no MP before Chaiyamparwaan's arrival. The micro party’s secretary-general, Puchiss Sricharoen, last Thursday (February 13) announced he was resigning to take responsibility for what he called a “shameful act” by his party’s only MP.

Puchiss said he “felt ashamed” that Chaiyamparwaan had not resigned his seat to fight the case.

“After Chaiyamparwaan was expelled from Move Forward, our party decided to give him another chance. … But we don’t want to be seen as supporting him, so I resign to take responsibility,” the secretary-general said, adding that over 200 party members would follow suit.

Blame on misunderstanding

In 2023, the three female assistants complained to Move Forward's executives, accusing Chaiyamparwaan of making improper advances, engaging in indecent physical contact, and requesting sexual intercourse. Lacking concrete evidence , the party initially put the MP on probation. However, as pressure from within and outside the party grew stronger, Move Forward decided to expel him.

Chaiyamparwaan insisted he was innocent, but apologised for any acts that could have been “misinterpreted” by his alleged victims.

One of the alleged victims recently told The Standard news website that she was raped by the politician while intoxicated in March 2023 when she was 20.

At that time, she was a junior member in his campaign team.

The woman, now a 22-year-old university student, said she believed Chaiyamparwaan did not merit a seat in Parliament due to his behaviour. “He must be punished by law -- that is, sent to prison,” she was quoted as saying.

Inspiring campaign message

Born in 1989, Chaiyamparwaan earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts from Bangkok University and a bachelor's in political science from Ramkhamhaeng University.

Before entering politics, he worked as a product researcher for StartDee, an educational tech startup. He also joined the Re-Solution group of activists to campaign for amendments to the current Constitution, which was written after the 2014 military coup.

The political debutant ran as a Move Forward candidate in the 2023 general election and was elected an MP for Bangkok’s Constituency 26.

During the election campaign, Chaiyamparwaan portrayed himself as a man of the people who had struggled to overcome hardships in life.

“Before reaching this point in life as an MP candidate, my life was like a movie full of emotional scenes. The opening scene was my childhood in a not-so-wealthy family, with fewer opportunities compared to many others. I faced both disappointments and successes, but I never gave up. I believe that if we don't stop trying, our day of success will arrive,” his message to voters read.

The aspiring MP said that his goal was to help improve quality of life and opportunities for everyone. Chaiyamparwaan continued that he might not completely understand the struggles his electorate faced, but he would employ experience gained from overcoming his own hardships to push for their betterment.