Delicious Food Attract Terrorists, Mangoes for Condolence

It should be a little difficult, but not hard to imagine someone mean, perhaps poorly treated and poorly educated, or an older person whose capacity for rationality might have been blunted by years and years of cognitive entropy, or that of a cognition yet to develop to learn proper reasoning, making cruel jokes about acts of terror.

But, one has to see it from the news with shock and bewilderment that someone in the position of the Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister would display such horrible humour while asked to comment on a tragedy that has taken 21 lives, and wounded scores of people. Thailand’s Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister, general Prawit Wongsuwan has made headlines, yet again, for his witless wisecrack.

On Tuesday the 15th, in the afternoon, terrorists attacked the DusitD2 hotel, a branch of Dusit Thani Public Company Limited (DTC), and office complex in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. One member of the attackers was a suicide bomber that detonated an explosion at the lobby restaurant of the hotel, and the four others moved through the hotel firing assault rifles at anyone in their sights. The gunmen dug in, and traded fire with law enforcement personnel in a standoff that lasted until Wednesday morning, when the military moved in and killed the Dusit hotel attackers. Al-Shabab, an Islamist terrorist organization laid claim to the responsibility. One American, a 9/11 survivor, died in the attack.

 

The Dusit brand of chain hotels is a one of Thailand’s most respected names in the hospitality business, news of the attack taking place in one of Dusit’s hotels naturally caught the attention of the Thai media. And when reporters in a routine morning briefing clustered around general Prawit asking about the horrible event that transpired the day before in Nairobi, witless general Prawit began his clout in self-inflicted catastrophe with “no Thais died, that’s OK enough”. The reporters, probably scenting the cut that has opened, presumed in their attempts to gut out something more juicy.

When one of the reporters continued to press on asking ‘why’, a very sensitive form of question for Thai generals, the Dusit hotel in Nairobi was targeted, the ‘Rolex General’ replied: “I don’t know. Maybe because the food is delicious,”. He should had stopped at “I don’t know”.

 

Of course, this isn’t the first time that general Prawit has gotten heat because of his bravado in not caring about how his responses will be interpreted, assuming he has control over his response to questioning. Just last year, in response to a tragic ferry capsizing accident in July that killed 47 Chinese tourists, general Prawit said: “Chinese did it to the Chinese,”.

 

Now, on Sunday, in an event tactfully dubbed “We Care For You,” deputy junta chairman, Gen. Prawit will inaugurate the binge eating of 5 tons of Mango and sticky rice for 10,000 lucky Chinese tourists. And, according to Khaosod, officials in charge of the feast hope the event will break the Guinness World Record for the biggest sticky rice mango banquet ever. From delicious food attracting terrorists to sticky rice mango for condolences, what will the Rolex General be up to next?