From rice corruption to MP ‘free lunches’, Warong back on warpath in Parliament
Thai Pakdee Party leader and sole MP Warong Dechgitvigrom hijacked the headlines as the House of Representatives met to choose a new speaker on March 15, demanding an immediate end to free meals for MPs.
In a firebrand address, he called on MPs to respect taxpayers’ money and scrap their meal privileges to set an example on public spending.
The 64-year-old four-time MP caused an immediate stir in his first parliamentary speech after a 15-year hiatus. He was last elected in 2011 as a Democrat MP for Phitsanulok.
“Every MP currently earns a monthly salary of 113,560 baht. Why are we spending taxpayers’ money to buy lunches for lawmakers? Why don’t MPs buy their own meals?” Warong declared to the House.
Several MPs protested, complaining he had diverged from the meeting’s agenda.
'Slapped down by speaker'
Warong aimed his message at the new speaker, the only figure with authority to cut MP food allowances without their approval.
However, the newly elected speaker, Sophon Saram, seemed ruffled by the “peculiar” interjection, branding it an “irrelevant proposal” for a meeting called specifically to elect a new speaker and two deputies.
Sophon’s reaction drew a wave of criticism from Thai netizens, who voiced overwhelming support for the proposal.
Warong doubled down at the March 19 House meeting to select a new prime minister, inviting newly re-elected PM Anutin Charnvirakul to join him in paying for his own lunch at the Parliament canteen.
Ultimately, the Thai Pakdee leader dined alone, enjoying a noodle soup that cost him just 60 baht.
Each MP pockets a daily meal allowance of 1,000 baht, requiring an annual budget of 72 million baht. Proponents argue the allowance is necessary to ensure MPs have convenient access to food during meetings at irregular hours.
Doctor turned politician
Born on May 1, 1961, Warong holds a bachelor's degree in medicine from Chiang Mai University and a master's in public administration from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA).
Before entering politics, he worked as a doctor at the Ministry of Public Health, serving as the director of two state-run district hospitals in Nong Khai province and as an assistant director of Buddhachinaraj Hospital in Phitsanulok province.
Fueled by political convictions adopted during his university days, Warong left the medical profession and joined then-PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party in 2003.
However, he quit the party a year later after failing to gain selection as a candidate for the 2005 general election.
Warong moved to the Democrat Party in 2004 and was elected as an MP for Phitsanulok the following year. He was re-elected twice under the Democrat banner, in 2007 and 2011.
He earned a reputation as a corruption watchdog by exposing widescale graft within the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice-pledging scheme while serving as a deputy Democrat spokesman.
His exposé led to criminal cases against several senior government officials, including Yingluck and her commerce minister.
Warong’s election winning streak snapped in 2019, as the country voted for the first time since the 2014 military coup that toppled the Pheu Thai-led government.
Instead, his Phitsanulok seat went to the Future Forward Party.
He said a “strategic mistake” was to blame for the Democrats’ poor election performance in 2019, when the country’s oldest party dropped from 159 seats to just 53. His criticism stirred waves in the party and led to a rift with the leadership.
Warong left the Democrats in November 2019 to join the Action Coalition Party (ACP), founded by former Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, who led street protests against Yingluck’s government that culminated in the 2014 coup.
However, Warong quit the ACP in June 2020 and launched his own “Thai Pakdee” political group two months later.
Thai Pakdee was registered as a political party in August 2021 but failed to win any seats on its electoral debut in 2023. However, the four-year-old party – described as conservative, nationalist, and royalist – finally broke its drought on February 8, winning just enough votes to secure a seat for its No 1 list candidate, Warong.