Thailand’s junta number two has been photographed with 25 different luxury watches worth $1.2million since a 2014 coup, social media sleuths say.
Prawit Wongsuwan has been under pressure since December when the ‘CSI LA’ Facebook page began to catalogue timepieces worn by the deputy prime minister.
Over the years, he has been seen in various news reports and photos wearing 11 different Rolexes, eight Patek Philippes and three Richard Milles, it has been claimed.
The social media campaign is urging the kingdom’s anti-graft body to probe how the watches came into Prawit’s possession – and is hugely embarrassing to Thailand’s military government.
Thailand’s junta number two, Prawit Wongsuwan (left) has been photographed with 25 different luxury watches worth $1.2 million since a 2014 coup, social media sleuths say. One of them was said to be a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 40mm in Ever Rose (pictured) costing some £21,050
Watches worn by Prawit included this Patek Philippe Gold Perpetual Calendar, which CSI LA said is priced at 3,600,000 baht (£81,600)
The deputy prime minister has also been pictured in this Patek Philippe Complications Code 5396/1G-001 watch costing around £52,000
The group also said he has been seen wering an A. Lange and Sohne 1815 Chronograph Silver Dial in 18K Rose Gold, believed to cost up to £34,000
The watches include a Patek Philippe Complications Annual Calendar – a self winding model made of 18 karat white gold that the group estimates having cost £32,000.
Another picture shows him in a GMT Master II made from 18K white gold worth up to £28,150.
Yesterday, he vowed to resign if the graft panel finds him guilty of wrongdoing.
The military government toppled the administration of Yingluck Shinwatra in 2014 vowing to purge the country of graft, a scourge it blamed on Thailand’s civilian rulers. Prawit was one of the architects of the coup.
On Wednesday the Thai-language ‘CSI LA’ page raised the watch tally after finding a fresh photo of him wearing a Patek Phillipe model at a temple ceremony in 2014.
He has been seen in various news reports and photos wearing a total of 11 Rolexes, eight Patek Philippes and three Richard Millies, it has been claimed. In this photo, online sleuths say he is wearing a Patek Philippe Complications Annual Calendar Model 5396G-011 – a self winding model made of 18 karat white gold and costing some £32,000
The watches include this Rolex Day-Date 36 in 18K Rose Gold that CSI LA says is priced at £25,950
Prawit was also said to have been pictured wearing a Patek Philippe Classic Chronograph which CSI LA said was priced at more than £50,000
Another photo shows Prawit wearing a Rolex Daytona 116523 WINNER in stainless steel with 18K gold. CSI LA said it is priced at 980,000 baht (£22,200)
One picture shows Prawit wearing a Rolex Yacht-Master Automatic Black Dial watch. The price guide on the example it provides shows a price tag of more than $21,500
A second Rolex Yacht-Master was seen on Prawit’s wrist, this time in steel and gold and priced at 460,000 baht (£10,400)
‘We have found 25 luxury watches worth more than $1.24 million, including 11 Rolexes, eight Patek Philippes and three Richard Millies,’ a post said, urging its near-750,000 followers to unearth more photos.
Prawit has so far not disputed the number of watches.
But on Tuesday he told reporters his ‘friends lent’ him watches which he duly returned.
Thailand’s National Anti-Coruption Commission (NACC) has let a deadline for Prawit to issue a formal explanation over the watches slip several times.
The NACC is headed by one of the junta top brass’ former subordinates, raising fears of a whitewash.
If the NACC rules ‘that I am wrong, I will quit,’ Prawit told reporters.
Prawit was also seen with this Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph 5960P, said to cost more than £70,000
The online sleuths posted this image of Prawit apparently wearing another Rolex – this time, a Pro Hunter Deepsea Blue
The watches also included this Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167R-001 in 18K Rose Gold. The price on the watchmaker’s website is £23,500
Prawit was seen at one function wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Stainless Steel Dial Black – a watch CSI LA says costs more than £13,000
At one event, the Deputy Prime Minister was seen wearing a Rolex Datejust Oyster 41 – said to cost £9,350
Prawit has so far not disputed the number of watches. But on Tuesday he told reporters his ‘friends lent’ him watches which he duly returned. He was pictured at one function wearing this Rolex Daytona in 18K gold, believed to cost £14,500
Prawit was seen on this occasion in a Rolex GMT Master II and believed to cost around £30,000
He was also seen in this Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, in 18K yellow gold and Stainless Steel, which comes with a £12,500 price tag, CSI LA claims
Prawit is seen here in a Patek Philippe 5135R Calendario Annual Calendar. CSI LA puts its price tag at the equivalent of £34,000
The slew of bad headlines engulfing Prawit comes as his main ally, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha remodels himself from a strongman general into a politician ahead of elections slated for the end of this year.
But the watch issue has angered both junta critics and erstwhile supporters in a divided country where politics is usually a strictly partisan affair.
Observers say that outrage represents fatigue with junta rule, which is widely seen as top-heavy and ineffective, and a wider yearning for a return to elections.
‘The watch issue is a sign that a new political proposition is emerging,’ Sirote Klampaiboon, a political commentator told AFP.
‘This is the first time since the junta took over in 2014 that political groups of different sides have come together, leaving their conflicts in the past.’