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Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung yesterday admitted that he drank alcohol before joining a parliamentary debate but strongly insisted he was not drunk.
"I had only one or two glasses at a wedding ceremony for the son of Kamronwit Thoopkrachang [acting chief of Provincial Police Region 1] at Impact Muang Thong Thani and I was not drunk," Mr Chalerm said in a telephone interview with the Bangkok Post Sunday.
"It's a normal thing for a man to drink liquor. I see nothing wrong with that."
Mr Chalerm repeatedly harangued Democrat Party and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the latter concluded his party's debate over the draft amendments to the constitution at about 11pm on Friday.
YouTube at parliament: Mr Chalerm, caught on video
This prompted Democrat MP for Samut Songkhram Rangsima Rodrasamee to protest and accuse Mr Chalerm of being drunk.
Mr Chalerm dismissed Ms Rangsima's accusation, saying he acted with full consciousness as he believed Mr Abhisit's statement was irrelevant to the debate.
"Ms Rangsima just wanted to protect her boss," Mr Chalerm said. "The accusation does not damage my reputation at all because it is normal for a man to drink."
Ms Rangsima yesterday said she would on Tuesday request the House speaker to allow the ethical committee to investigate Mr Chalerm's alleged misbehaviour.
She would also call on the speaker to come up with measures to prevent a drunk MP from entering parliament, such as installing a breathalyser at the entrance to parliament's meeting hall.
"I know [that might be unnecessary] and become a waste of taxpayers' money as MPs should bear in mind that they must not drink alcohol while on duty," Ms Rangsima said in an interview with the 100.5 News Update radio programme.
When asked if she had any evidence to prove her accusations against Mr Chalerm, Ms Rangsima said she could judge from the way Mr Chalerm looked, spoke and struggled to maintain his balance that he was absolutely drunk.
"His face turned red and he was unable to master his tongue movement while speaking," she said.
Pheu Thai MP for Udon Thani Anant Sriphan, who was seen drinking alcohol with Mr Chalerm, even needed to be carried away by two persons because he was unable to walk steadily, she said.
"What happened on Friday night has greatly damaged the good reputation of all MPs," Ms Rangsima said.
"Drinking alcohol while on duty is serious misconduct and those who do so deserve to be fired. If this happened in some other countries, they would have already resigned."
Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit insisted Mr Chalerm was not drunk but might have appeared weak due to sleep deprivation after two days of lengthy House debates.
He accused the Democrats of making a fuss of a minor issue that would not benefit the public.
"He didn't look drunk to me. I was there near him and didn't smell any alcohol on him," said Mr Prompong.
He said Pheu Thai would not consider launching a probe into the allegations. "It's up to parliament whether it will investigate or not," he said.
Mr Anant, who is a close aide of Mr Chalerm, insisted he was not drunk during Friday's debate. He said he was seen staggering on TV because he was about to stand to protest but his friends tried to stop him, causing him to lose his balance.
Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont said the facts needed to be established before the ethical committee would decide whether it should investigate the matter. The ethical committee would meet soon but would not consider the allegations because nobody has lodged a complaint, he said.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra also declined to comment on the issue. She smiled and said "thank you" before walking away when asked about it.
After 32 hours of debates over two days, the House voted 399-199, with 14 abstentions, to pass the three charter amendment drafts proposed by the government, Pheu Thai and the Chartthaipattana Party.
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