Nothing to see here… move on. Prawit opens up about wristwatches.

Up to now Deputy PM and Thai Defence Minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, has remained largely silent over ongoing allegations into the many luxury watches adorning his right arm over a series of months. And a flashy diamond ring.

But today he says that the wristwatches were lent to him by Patthavart Suksriwong, a wealthy businessman who was his close former classmate at St Gabriel College. This from today’s Post Today online.

He continued to plead his innocence over the matter and made it clear to the media that he understood his obligations in regard to declaring his assets to the NACC (National Anti Corruption Commission). He said the Mr Pattavart was a close friend and rich businessman and that had remained associated since studying together at St Gabriel College. St Gabriel’s College is a private Catholic all-boys school in Bangkok. The school was founded by the Brothers of Saint Gabriel in 1920.

He says he didn’t declare the watches as assets because they weren’t his but had been lent by Mr Pattavart. General Prawit claims his friend had 200-300 wristwatches and timepieces in his collection.

“I am not stupid. I was in government service for a long time and was minister for many times. Why didn’t I know about the assets declaration? Because the wristwatches belong to a friend and it was my turn that he lent me the timepieces,” said General Prawit.

“He lent me the wristwatches for 20-30 years. When I became bored with any of them, I returned them to him and he lent me new ones. This went on for a long time. The Deputy PM said that this was the same clarification that he made with the NACC.

He also said he would accept whatever the ruling from the NACC about his controversy.