New Delhi: A Casio watch priced under $60 is increasingly popular among Thailand’s political elites. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has gifted these retro Casio AW1200WH watches, with a small world map on the face and his name engraved, to cabinet ministers, senior bureaucrats, and political allies.
Its wearers have acquired a collective nickname: Cassio Connection. The gift is seen as a window into the personal relationships behind the political network that helped the Prime Minister hold together one of Thailand’s more stable governments in recent years.
“The value of what we wear isn’t just in its price. For me, it’s in the person who gives it,” said Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat, one of the Casio recipients, in an interview.
It has also become popular as “Casio Royale,” a fan-made name borrowed from the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. Watch enthusiasts noted a resemblance to the James Bond spy watch.
Charnvirakul is known for building political alliances across Thailand. His Bhumjaithai Party includes influential provincial families, and he has close ties with senior Interior Ministry officials.
How it works
According to Angkasakulkiat, the Prime Minister picks these watches up from small shops and markets during trips and site visits around Bangkok, then has his name engraved before handing them out.
The process has its charm.
Angkasakulkiat said he had to wait some time for his own watch. Recipients have started comparing whether they were given a metal band or a resin one. These small details are what matter in a political set-up, becoming a marker of who received what and when.
The gift is inexpensive yet personal enough to matter. A minister can wear it daily, in public, without appearing to flaunt wealth. At the same time, everyone who recognises it understands the political connection it represents.
But this is not an entirely new form of status. Across the world, items such as a plain tote bag from an elite agency can signal membership of a select circle to those who know what to look for.
Thailand’s Casio works in much the same way.
Angkasakulkiat said that he had worn the watch since the day he received it and even gave up his luxury watches that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
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‘Not anything political’
But the government rejects any suggestion of an inner circle. Government spokesman Ekkapob Pianpises said Charnvirakul likes the watch because it is practical and enjoys sharing it with others.
“It’s not a signal of anything political,” Ekkapob said.
But in 2017, then-deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan faced an anti-graft investigation after photographs showed him wearing a series of costly watches.
Investigators examined 22 timepieces worth more than $1 million. Prawit had said they had been borrowed from a wealthy friend, who later died. He was cleared the following year.
Charnvirakul has also declared 22 luxury watches valued at more than 60 million baht. He was photographed wearing a Rolex Day-Date 40 at a celebration for Bhumjaithai patriarch Newin Chidchob, who wore a Richard Mille.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)