Senator Nanthana Accuses Blue Senators of Monopolizing Committee Seats
Senator Nanthana Nantaworaphad accused the Senate’s 'Blue Senators' of monopolizing special‑committee seats after losing a vote with only 28 supportive votes. She claimed the result showed the Senate had rejected vote‑packing, while fellow senator Atcharaphan Homrot insisted the selection was proportional and not faction‑based. The dispute led the deputy Senate chair to mute both microphones and order the argument to stop.
During the Senate session considering the Teacher Council and Educational Personnel Act, Senator Nanthana Nantaworaphad said she received 28 votes in favor, 96 against, 22 abstentions, and four non‑votes for the special committee seat, meaning she was not selected. She thanked those who voted for her, claimed the result showed the Senate had rejected 'vote‑packing', and accused the 'Blue Senators' of monopolizing the body, insisting she would never join that faction. Senator Atcharaphan Homrot protested that the nominees came from various committees and were chosen proportionally, not by colour, and that Nanthana could have put her name forward through a committee member. The exchange grew heated, with Nanthana refusing to argue with a 'nominee', leading the deputy Senate chair, Boonsong Noisophan, to mute both microphones and order them to stop. Nanthana later said that in her two years as a senator she had only ever been nominated for one special‑committee bill, and that despite her background in education and membership in the education committee, she had never been nominated for this particular legislation. She noted that another senator, Prathum Wongsa‑wat, had proposed her name to make the total 18 nominees for the 17 available seats, and that the 17 senators who voted as a bloc secured the seats while she received only 28 votes.
