The 27-year-old then known as Manat Bophlom pleaded guilty and accepted a four-year minimum jail term before being deported. Two decades later, that man, Thammanat Prompao, now a powerful Thai politician, has spent months deflecting accusations he was ineligible to be a cabinet minister because of his criminal past revealed in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in September. And at the height of a censure motion against him, Thammanat wheeled out another excuse. "The thing the police and authorities in the state of NSW said was 3.2 kilograms of heroin, it was flour," he said. After a week-long parliamentary debate, Thammanat kept his job as a cabinet minister.

He received fewer votes of confidence than the five other ministers targeted, and was handed a public rebuke from 17 members of his own government which always had the numbers. Bangkok Post columnist Atiya Achakulwisut said Thammanat’s case showed politics and ideology had become more important than truth. “Apparently we have arrived at a time when facts are meaningless and legitimacy is irrelevant,” she wrote. Excuses, excuses, excuses July 2019 after being appointed to cabinet: “I was detained for eight months, after which I was freed to live my life as normal.” September after The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the truth: “I lived in state-sponsored accommodation.” “I was sent to take care of some younger detainees. After this work, I would return to sleep in the place the officials had prepared for me.” “I will launch 100 defamation lawsuits.” During the censure debate: “I violated Australian law, not Thai law.” “Australia has common law, not civil law like Thailand ... We are not a colony.” “I worked on a farm.” “It was flour.” Exiled academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun was among many to joke about Thammanat’s “flour” claim, but added it was sad Thai democracy had descended to that level. “He got away with it,” Pavin said. “We all knew, even people in the Parliament, and the public knew he told lies. He was lying, so what? And then we moved on.”

Pavin, an associate professor at Kyoto University who has lived in exile since being stripped of his passport in 2014 for criticisms of the junta and monarchy, said Parliament had not performed its proper function since the election last March. “The government got away with it, it showed Parliament doesn’t matter,” he said, adding demonstrations at more than 30 universities across Thailand showed younger generations could no longer stomach being disenfranchised. A protest at Kasetsart University was among dozens held during the censure debate. Credit:Getty “Enough is enough, especially for the younger generation. The protests are across Thailand. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this. Maybe this will be a good thing, somehow. We know the uselessness of Parliament, it has led to the rise of political consciousness among the younger generation.” The main targets of the protesters have been the Constitutional Court for dissolving a key opposition party, Future Forward, and the Prayut administration, which they want removed after nearly six years of military-backed rule. Some protesters have also taken aim at the king, if only obliquely in a country where insulting the monarchy can result in jail.

“The students are not stupid,” Pavin said, adding that without wishing to belittle their efforts the protests were unlikely to lead to lasting change without reform of the monarchy. “I hope that I am wrong. I hope that the students push the right buttons.” The subject of most ridicule, however, has been the man who once called Parklea prison home, with no single line causing more outrage than the claim Australian police arrested him over packages of flour. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video It was the latest in a string of lies, including that he had “lived in state-sponsored accommodation” before being allowed to leave Sydney. (see box)

The court file reveals that police launched their Bondi sting four hours after he arrived, and they gathered evidence he was intimately involved in the deal. Loading He wasn't always averse to telling truths. In custody, he provided details of the Thai underworld to Australian authorities in return for leniency. A judge told him he might otherwise have been jailed for eight years. His co-operation began early. In an interview with police 10 days after his arrest, he explained how a sacked army sergeant sent women and young soldiers around the world with drugs. "I’m going to tell the whole story about Weera," he told police, not giving a surname. One of Weera’s operations to the Middle East involved up to 12kg of heroin, he told police. “If Weera’s staff failed to do that ... Weera can send his staff to kill the people. It is very well known in Bangkok that killing is very common.