A mocking hacker took over the Twitter account of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday, questioning her ability to defend the country if she cannot even secure her own tweets.
The unknown hacker ended a series of at least eight postings on Yingluck’s account with a taunt: “If she can’t even protect her own Twitter account, how can she protect the country? Think about it.”
Most of the messages accused Yingluck’s government of incompetence and cronyism. Her Pheu Thai Party won a landslide election victory in July, but critics charge she is just a puppet of her brother, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
“This country is a business. We work for our allies, not for the Thai people. We work for those who support us, not those who differ with us,” one tweet said.
Another said: “Where are the opportunities for the poor? We use them, give them hope for votes so our own group can benefit.”
Thaksin became popular among Thailand’s rural and urban poor for his populist policies, including subsidized housing and virtually free healthcare. Yingluck has proposed similar policies, though critics say the country cannot afford them.
A government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng confirmed that Yingluck’s account — PouYingluck — had been hacked.
“We have been informed by the ICT [Information and Communication Technology] ministry, and they are looking into who’s responsible for it. We don’t know who did it,” Thitima said.
Last week unknown hackers defaced the Web site of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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