Thailand’s freshly appointed deputy education minister has come under fire, not for policy blunders, but for her punctuation.
Dr Ying Linthiporn Varinvacharoj, unveiled this week as part of the kingdom’s new Cabinet, found herself facing a grammar grilling after social media users spotted basic Thai language slip-ups in her old Facebook posts.
A popular Thai-language Facebook page called her out with a snarky dig.
“Is she the one misusing words? She’s now the deputy education minister.”
The online storm centred on misused Thai particles, basic elements of grammar, prompting questions about whether someone in charge of the nation’s education system should be making such mistakes.
Dr Ying, however, was quick to explain. She held her hands up and admitted the blunders, but blamed them on her smartphone’s voice-to-text function.
“It was an old post. I used speech-to-text and didn’t manually check. I acknowledge the errors, but they don’t reflect my ability to carry out my duties.”
The 43 year old insists she’s focused on delivering real change to Thailand’s struggling schools, not arguing over apostrophes and particles, Channel 3 reported.
“I’m committed to proving myself through my work. Let’s focus on the real issues in education, not past typos.”
Despite the online sniping, Dr Ying remains firmly in post, part of the sweeping Cabinet shake-up announced by royal command on June 30 and published in the Royal Gazette on July 1.
The reshuffle, ordered by now suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, saw key positions filled across several ministries, including new faces at Commerce, Agriculture, and Culture.
Dr Ying joins Narumon Pinyosinwat at the Education Ministry, alongside fellow Deputy Thewan Liptapanlop, in what’s being billed as a team tasked with revitalising Thailand’s schools.
Whether her grammar survives the spotlight remains to be seen but Dr Ying is clearly hoping her policies, not her particles, will do the talking.
The story Grammar gaffe puts Thai deputy education minister in hot seat as seen on Thaiger News.
