Karaoke room in Thai parliament is out of tune with public

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armchairlawyer
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Karaoke room in Thai parliament is out of tune with public

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£532m new building has massage facility, basketball court and golf driving range

Thailand’s new parliament building, the largest in the world, has come under criticism after it was revealed the sprawling complex would house a karaoke room, basketball court and ballroom for its members.

The Sappaya-Sapasathan, which overtook Romania’s Palace of the Parliament by floor size when it opened last year, was opened to reporters for a tour of its recreational Parliamentary Club on Monday.

Among the facilities revealed at the Bangkok complex were a running track, massage room and golf driving range.

Peerasak Porchit, the chairman of the Senate committee overseeing the plans for the club, said that past and present members of the Senate and House of Representatives, which make up the national assembly, would be able to use the facilities once the trend in Covid case numbers became clearer.

However, the public appeared to be more concerned about how their taxes had been spent rather than when politicians would be able to pop into the club’s spa after a hard day of debate.

One Twitter user wrote: “Is it right for people to pay taxes to feed these people”.

“Isn’t it a bit disrespectful? Should a place like this have a karaoke room? So confused,” wrote another.

The Bangkok Post editorial accepted that the country’s lawmakers “deserve a decent workplace that befits their honourable status” but questioned how necessary it was to have a karaoke room.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kara ... -3x5g7w5cp

“A workplace, especially a high-status one, should exude a sense of seriousness and solemnity — not an entertainment co-working space where office workers sing along in karaoke and dance after work hours,” the newspaper, Thailand’s second oldest, said.

Plans to shift the country’s MPs three miles away to the Sappaya-Sapasathan were first approved in 2008 by a previous administration amid complaints of overcrowding at the former building, which was the scene of violent clashes in 2020.

The project, a layered glassy complex with a pagoda at its centre, was beset by delays and overspending, with the project initially estimated to be completed in less than three years and at a budget of 14 billion baht (£325 million). It was completed last year at a cost of 22.9 billion baht (£532 million).

Padipat Suntiphada, an MP with the opposition Move Forward Party, called the club’s lavishness “unacceptable” and demanded a review into the building, the Thai PBS television network reported.

Addressing Chuan Leekpai, the speaker of the House of Representatives, earlier this week, he said that despite the abundance of recreational facilities there was still no proper place for mothers to feed their babies or enough rooms for officials to work in.

Leekpai responded by saying the club was included in the original building plans but that he would seek further details on it from the secretary general of the House of Representatives.
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