Senator Keskamol Pleansamai, while indeed a medical doctor, has found herself in hot water with the Medical Council of Thailand over claims of being a skincare specialist. (Photo: dr.kes.keskamol Instagram account)
The council is gearing up to charge the beleaguered Senator for presenting herself as a skin and beauty expert sans official certification. In its July 12 meeting, the council’s board concluded that Dr. Keskamol’s actions ran afoul of Section 32 of the Medical Professions Act, which demands formal certification for such distinctions. This revelation comes from a source closely tied to the case.
Tasked with probing into Dr. Keskamol’s self-proclaimed expertise is Dr. Ittaporn Kanacharoen, the council’s secretary-general. He has the responsibility to determine if her declarations breach council ethics. According to Dr. Ittaporn, the board will further deliberate on the matter come August 8.
In a recent Facebook post, Dr. Ittaporn shed light on the fact that out of Thailand’s 76,000 medical professionals, 40,000 possess recognized specialty certifications. A mere medical degree renders one a general practitioner, and further certification is obligatory for any specialist designation. This clarity is crucial under Section 44 of the Medical Professions Act, which enforces penalties of up to one-year imprisonment and a 10,000-baht fine for doctors falsely claiming specialist status. Additionally, their licenses could be revoked, as per the act.
Dr. Keskamol’s credentials feature a verified medical degree from Rangsit University. However, other aspects of her academic portfolio, including multiple graduate degrees and a professorship, have been critically scrutinized by social media detectives. Particularly contentious is her claim of a PhD from the California University Foreign Credentials Evaluation (FCE) Institution, a body known for issuing certificates rather than degrees.
Despite these controversies, Dr. Keskamol operates four beauty clinics and garners a significant online following. Reflecting on her political career, she mentioned that during her Senate campaign, she chose to align with the “others” category, encompassing freelancers, over the Medical Professions group, citing the prominence of notable individuals in the latter.
In response to the avalanche of accusations, Dr. Keskamol’s lawyer, Decha Kittiwittayanan, has stepped up to defend her. He clarified that Dr. Keskamol is a doctoral candidate at Maejo University in Chiang Mai and has never claimed to have completed the program. The university corroborated this, attesting that she is midway through a three-year doctoral course in the Faculty of Agricultural Production.
Mr. Decha pointed fingers at the media for misrepresenting Dr. Keskamol’s educational background. Addressing claims that she purportedly led the public to believe she was a student at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), he explained that she was merely visiting the institute as part of her doctoral research.
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