The news that caretaker deputy prime minister Uncle Pom, or General Prawit Songsuwan, has nodded off during House business should not stain Thai politics too darkly. Although the photo via Facebook created the expected sensation on Thai social media, many bloggers pointed out there is nothing unusual in 77 year olds taking a nap, or appearing to do so by resting their eyes which can apparently sharpen the mind a lot.
Slumbering at the wrong time has often had political ramifications. When the British captured Gilbraltar in 1704 and even Fort Santiago in Manila in 1761, commanders gleefully reported that the lazy-sons-of-bitches Spanish garrisons had fallen asleep as their enemy gained surreptitious entry and disarmed the lot. It’s a good story even if likely British propaganda.
Further back, the Roman emperor Tiberius was notorious for snoring as senators gave their speeches. However, according to the imperial biographer Suetonius, it didn’t matter one jot as the ageing monarch readily conceded as he never took any notice of what other people said anyway. His successor, the emperor Caligula, often pretended to sleep during Senate hearings but would abruptly open is eyes and order instant execution for anyone smiling or mocking or appearing to. The Hun leader Attila astonishingly slept throughout his marriage night but was excused when his virgin wife reported there was a meat cleaver in his skull.
Former Italian politician and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi slept at public meetings on numerous occasions, even once at a military parade which goes to show that loud noises are no deterrent. Pope Benedict XVI was photographed twice asleep at a pontificial mass in 2010 but this had nothing to do with his subsequent resignation. Supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg nodded off during president Obama’s state of the union speech in 2015, but was honest enough to admit she had been drinking red wine.
So, if the conspiracy theories are true and there really is a plot to form a minority Thai administration with Pheu Thai allying with the smaller military parties to outmaneuver the populist Move Forward Party, Uncle Pom could be nominated as the next prime minister. Certainly, forty winks should not stand in his way. As Mark Twain said, “The amount of sleep required by the average person is about five minutes more.”
