Category: Government

Bangkok police warned anti-establishment protesters to refrain from violence during their protests at three locations in Bangkok this afternoon (Sunday), or face legal action.

The “Ratsadon”, “Talu Gas”, “Talu Fah”, “United Front for Thammasat and Demonstration” and a feminist group rallied this afternoon at Ratchaprasong and Din Daeng intersections and at the Supreme Court.

They occupied almost the whole road in front of Central World shopping mall and set up booths to sell their T-shirts and shrimp paste, to raise funds. The partial closure of the road caused traffic congestion from Ratchaprasong to Pratunam intersections.

Using a loud hailer, Lumpini police warned the protesters that they were holding an illegal assembly, defying the state of emergency and the Disease Control Act, only to be jeered and booed in response.

Pol Maj-Gen Jirasan Kaewsang-ek, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said that crowd control police had been put on stand-by in case any violence erupts.

One of the protest leaders, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, told the media that today’s rally at Ratchaprasong was to demand the repeal of the country’s controversial section 112 of the penal code, more commonly referred to as the lèse majesté law.

He claimed that more than 230,000 people have already signed up in support of their campaign, but their aim is to collect a million signatures.

He said that the event today was named “People’s Judgement of Section 112”, to challenge the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling, which described calls for reform of the monarchy as unconstitutional.

Somyot also warned that similar protests will take place next year in several other provinces as well.

The “Talu Gas” protest group has earned a reputation for violence and plans to protest at Din Daeng intersection again this evening.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

The opposition party and pressure group that were resurrected from the disbanded Future Forward Party are setting their sights on different political targets — in a two-pronged move to win the hearts and minds of Thai voters.

While the Move Forward Party is eyeing national elections and the Bangkok gubernatorial polls, the Progressive Movement is campaigning to woo grassroots voters at local administrative organization elections.

Setting different targets

It’s obvious that the Progressive Movement, led by tycoon-turned-politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, is focused on winning local elections including Pattaya City’s mayorship, while Move Forward is targeting the general election and Bangkok governor’s seat, said political analyst Stithorn Thananithichot from King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

Thanathorn and other Future Forward executives formed the Progressive Movement after their party was dissolved by court last year for exceeding legal donation limits.

The verdict, handed down in February 2020 by the Constitutional Court, also banned party executives from politics for 10 years.

However, the ban only applies to national politics, as the law does not bar banned politicians — the Future Forward ex-leader included — from local politics or helping candidates campaign for local elections. In contrast, the law prohibits serving MPs, senators and other political officeholders from interfering in local elections and acting to help or hinder local candidates.

“Thanathorn’s intention is to lead [the country] but he is banned from politics and cannot become prime minister [during the 10-year ban]. Local politics offer him the chance to display his capability [in administration] and prove that he can do it well,” Stithorn said.

However, critics point out that his Progressive Movement has fallen far short of success in its debut at local elections over the past year.

Improved performance

Late last year, the group failed to win any of the 42 elections it contested for chief executives of provincial administrative organizations in 76 provinces. Its detractors called the failure a “landslide loss”.

However, Progressive Movement did better in mayoral elections early this year. It ran for mayor in 106 of the 2,472 municipal councils nationwide, managing to win 16 seats and getting 15 per cent of candidates elected.

The latest local election – subdistrict administrative organization polls in late November – saw Progressive Movement fielding 196 candidates and winning 38 elections for SAO chief executives, or 20 per cent of all seats it contested.

The group’s leaders described the victory as an important success among local electorates, but observers said winning 38 out of 5,300 seats up for grabs nationwide was insignificant.

Some observers credited Progressive Movement’s improved performance at the SAO elections to its shift in campaigning strategy — widening its target from young voters and abstract issues like democracy, rights and freedom, to middle-aged/working-age people and concrete issues like the economy and quality of life.

Thanathorn said victory in many SAO elections proved that his group had successfully connected with people in rural areas, extending its appeal beyond cities where its young supporters live.

He also voiced confidence that Progressive Movement now had a support base in all regions of the country, and not just the Northeast where its candidates won many recent local elections.

“We won SAO elections in the Northeast because we could show people that [what we did for] local politics helped improve their lives,” Thanathorn said.

Stithorn believes Thanathorn can offer advice, ideas and policies to his group’s mayors and SAO chiefs, showing how they can improve society and move away from old-style paternalistic politics.

The Progressive Movement can now use their local executives’ successes as evidence that it makes positive changes to Thai society, Stithorn said.

Their party may benefit

Meanwhile, the group’s success in local elections is likely to help boost Move Forward’s popularity in future general elections. However, that boost may not be visible at the national vote expected next year, the analyst said.

“There is a chance … but [Progressive Movement] needs to work hard and get serious in its areas to prove how its model of running local administrative organizations differs from others,” Stithorn said.

“If they can create improvements in local administrations and show solid proof, especially in provinces where their candidates become council executives, the model can be adopted to win success for Move Forward [at the general election] too.”

The analyst added that Progressive Movement members in local administrative councils should play an active role in scrutinizing executives for potential irregularities or corruption, as well as proposing progressive regulations for their administrations.

Success in their scrutinizing role could also boost Move Forward’s popularity in national politics, Stithorn said.

However, such a success is unlikely to happen before the next general election, which observers forecast will be called in 2022.

Bangkok and Pattaya

Thanathorn has confirmed his Progressive Movement will contest the next election for Pattaya mayorship but says “it’s for the Move Forward Party” to decide whether to field a candidate for the Bangkok governor’s election. The careful words are likely aimed at avoiding allegations of intervening in a political party’s internal affairs — a charge that could lead to disbandment of the party involved.

Thanathorn regards Pattaya as “more local” than Bangkok and therefore a legitimate target for his pressure group.

He also said that his group already has at least two potential candidates for Pattaya mayorship.

“The Progressive Movement won’t field any candidate to contest the Bangkok governor’s election. Bangkok is an area for the Move Forward Party,” Thanathorn told the media recently.

Both city polls are expected to be held in the first quarter of next year, capping off the first round of local voting since the elections were postponed following the 2014 military coup.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attending talks that began Saturday among Group of Seven foreign ministers in Liverpool, with a call from British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to unite against authoritarianism.

The appeal from Truss came as ministers from the world’s wealthiest democracies, informally known as the G-7, discuss Russia’s build-up of troops along the border it shares with Ukraine, containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and addressing the military’s seizure of Myanmar.

“We need to come together strongly to stand up to aggressors who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy,” Truss said as she opened the two-day session without mentioning specific countries.

The top U.S. diplomat met Friday with Truss and their counterparts from France and Germany and discussed how to advance the Iran nuclear talks. Blinken meets separately Saturday with the foreign ministers of Japan, Italy and Australia.

Blinken will also have a series of in-person meetings with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as part of a December 9-17 trip that also will take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hawaii.

Blinken’s trip is part of a U.S. effort to further advance its “strategic partnership” with ASEAN as President Joe Biden’s administration aims to begin a new “Indo-Pacific economic framework” in early 2022.

This marks the first time ASEAN countries were included in the G-7 foreign and development ministers’ meeting, being held in Liverpool.

The top diplomats are discussing China’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Russia’s troop buildup in Ukraine and the global coronavirus pandemic.

In Jakarta, Indonesia next week, Blinken will deliver remarks on the significance of the Indo-Pacific region and underscore the importance of the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership.

“The secretary will have an opportunity to discuss the president’s newly announced Indo-Pacific economic framework,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters in a call briefing. “President Biden is committed to elevating U.S.-ASEAN engagement to unprecedented levels,” he added.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation. Kritenbrink told VOA on Wednesday that Blinken will attend a vaccine clinic hosted by the largest faith-based nongovernmental organization in Indonesia.

Blinken then heads to Malaysia and Thailand, where he will attempt to advance U.S. ties and address shared challenges, including fighting COVID-19, building resilient supply chains, dealing with the climate crisis, and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The State Department said Blinken will “address the worsening crisis” in Myanmar in each country during his lengthy trip. The military in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, seized power in a February coup, overthrowing the civilian government.

U.S. officials had indicated the new Indo-Pacific economic framework would include broad partnerships with nations in the region in critical areas such as the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, and clean energy.

“The Indo-Pacific region is a critical part of our economy. It’s not just that it accounts for over half of the world’s population and 60% of global GDP” (gross domestic product), Jose Fernandez, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said in a recent briefing.

“Seven of the top 15 U.S. export markets are in the Indo-Pacific. Two-way trade between the U.S. and the region was over $1.75 trillion,” he added.

There are, however, concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind China in deepening economic and strategic ties with ASEAN.

“ASEAN countries want more from Washington on the economic side, but the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-Pacific economic framework is likely to fall short of their expectations,” said Susannah Patton, a research fellow in the foreign policy and defense program at the United States Studies Center in Sydney.

“After RCEP enters into force, there will be two megatrade pacts in Asia: RCEP and CPTPP, and the United States is in neither,” said Patton, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“China’s application to join CPTPP, a vehicle that was designed to promote U.S. economic ties with Asia, highlights Washington’s absence,” Patton told VOA Wednesday. Signed in 2018, the CPTPP is a free-trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

In November 2020, 10 ASEAN member states and five additional countries (Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) signed the RCEP, representing around 30% of the world’s GDP and population. RCEP will come into force in January.

Others said the new Indo-Pacific economic framework appears to be not just about traditional trade, as Washington is signaling strategic interests in the region.

Source: Voice of America

Government representatives met with leaders of Jana District protesters today (Friday), to inform them of the appointment by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s of Energy Minister as head the fact-finding committee on the Jana industrial estate project, replacing Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

Pansak Charoen, director of the People’s Service Centre under the Prime Minister’s Office and head of the government representatives, also told the protest leaders that Supattanapong’s panel will soon meet with protest leaders to listen to their concerns and would like them to submit their proposals or demands for consideration.

Pansak Charoen, director of the People’s Service Centre under the Prime Minister’s Office and head of the government representatives, also told the protest leaders that Supattanapong’s panel will soon meet with protest leaders to listen to their concerns and would like them to submit their proposals or demands for consideration.

The Jana district protesters have been camping out in front of the UN Building on Ratchadamnoen Nai Road since they were dispersed from the area near Government House on Monday.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Defiant protesters from Jana district, of Thailand’s southern province of Songkhla, have vowed to return to Government House next Monday to demand that the government fulfils its commitments over the controversial Jana industrial estate project, as defined in a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has, however, rejected the MoU, claiming that it has not been endorsed by the cabinet, while claiming that he is open to hearing the protesters’ views and concerns.

The protesters, including 37 arrested by riot police at their temporary camp at Government House on Monday night and who were later released, are now camping out in front of the United Nations building, which is only a short distance from Government House.

The group briefly rallied in front of Government House on Wednesday to read a statement outlining their demands, which include:

– An investigation into the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) for its oversight role of the industrial estate project

– The government must undertake a comprehensive environmental and health impact assessment of the project

– The government must suspend all construction and pre-construction activities in the project area until the first two demands are met.

– The government must withdraw all charges against the 37 protesters arrested by police on Monday.

The group is also planning a gathering at the Interior Ministry this afternoon (Thursday).

The Jana industrial estate project was approved by the government in 2019, to be overseen by the SBPAC. It is located on about 2,680 hectares of land. Most of the land has already been purchased from local people by two companies, TPIPP and IRPC, which aim to implement the project, working with PTT Public Company, Thailand’s largest oil trading and exploration company.

The finished project will accommodate agro and light industries; heavy industries; four power plants with a combined capacity of 3,700 megawatts; two deep-sea ports, one for containers and the other for offloading of natural gas; a logistics zone for the distribution of products, and residential housing and other services.

When complete, it will be the largest industrial estate in southern Thailand, generating as many as 100,000 jobs.

One contentious issue, raised by the protesters, is how the city planning committee of Songkhla was able to convert, without the consent of the local people, over 1,000 hectares of farm land into an industrial zone, to pave the way for the project.

Most of the population in Jana district are Malay Muslims and the district is considered as a hot bed of insurgency, along with Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Five former core members of the now defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have lost their parliamentary status in a ruling by the Constitutional Court today (Wednesday).

The five are Chumphol Julasai, an MP for Chumphon province, Isara Somchai, Democrat party-list MP, Thavorn Senniam, Democrat MP for Songkhla, Buddhipongse Punnakanta and Nataphol Teepsuwan, both party-list MPs of the Palang Pracharat party.

According to the court’s ruling, the MPs lose their parliamentary status retroactively, as of April 7th, when the Criminal Court ordered them to stop functioning as legislators.

According to Sections 98 (6) of the Constitution, an MP who is sentenced to a prison term a court and has served the term in prison is not qualified to be an MP.

In arriving at the ruling, the court rejected the five’s contention that they had not been imprisoned, but were temporarily detained in prison because the court denied their temporary release.

These, and 21 others linked to the PDRC, including then PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban, were sentenced to prison terms in February for their active involvement in the PDRC’s prolonged protests, aimed at toppling the government of then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013 and 2014.

For the two empty party-list seats, Torsak Asavahame of the Palang Pracharat party, will automatically replace Buddhipongse while the seat left by Isara will be filled in by another Democrat, Duangrit Benjathikul Chairungruang.

By-elections will be held within 45 days of the Constitutional Court’s ruling today in Constituency 1 of Chumphon and Constituency 6 of Songkhla to fill the seats left by Thavorn and Chumphol.

The fifth MP, Nataphol, left the Palang Pracharat party some time ago and his seat has already been refilled.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Thailand’s six-party opposition bloc has issued a joint statement outlining the government’s failures during the past three years under the leadership of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Leaders of the opposition parties, among them Chonlanan Srikaew of Pheu Thai, Pita Limjaroenrat of Move Forward, Pol Gen Seripisut Temiyavet of Thai Liberal Party, Wan Muhamad Noor Matha of Prachachart, Nikhom Boonvises of Thai People Power Party and Sarunvuth Sarunkate of Pheu Chart, met yesterday to discuss the government’s performance.

They summed up the government’s failures as follows:

Leadership failure on the part of Prime Minister Prayut, citing the use of a special law to shut down the operations of the Akara gold mine, resulting in a multi-billion-baht lawsuit being filed against the government by its parent company in Australia.

• Massive corruption, citing the medical glove procurement scandal, which caused losses estimated at over 100 billion baht of taxpayer’s money, and the procurement of ATKs.

• Failures in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the widespread closure of many businesses and an economic meltdown.

• Budget mismanagement with record high borrowing

• Political reform failures, citing the prime minister’s effort to block the opposition’s attempts to amend the Constitution and attempts to “buy” opposition MPs.

• The government’s restrictions of the rights and liberties of the people through the use of security laws against peaceful protesters.

• Failure to solve economic problems, supporting rich businesses while ignoring the grievances of the poor and lack of direction in economic recovery.

• Education reform failures, pushing the Thai educational system to rock bottom among ASEAN countries.

• Failure to tackle illegal narcotics and other serious crimes

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

A draft law seeking to repeal the post-coup junta’s executive orders is the latest attempt by civil society to uproot the legacy of the military government which ruled from May 2014 until just after the March 2019 general election.

The bill is due to go before the House of Representatives this Wednesday (Dec 8), after the first reading was postponed from December 1.

Proposed by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), the bill is backed by more than 13,000 voters’ signatures.

In order to pass the first reading, it needs support from more than half of the existing 475 MPs, or at least 238.

Activists and opposition politicians are urging Parliament to pass the bill. However, observers reckon it has little chance, pointing out that the national assembly is dominated by MPs from the coalition led by former junta leaders, while the Senate was appointed by the junta.

Still in force

The junta — officially called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) — issued a total of 556 announcements and orders during its five years in power. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who led the 2014 coup, used his absolute power as NCPO leader to issue a string of orders to tackle different issues facing his administration. That power was conferred to him by Article 44 of the junta’s 2014 interim Constitution.

Critics accuse Prayut and his junta of exploiting Article 44 orders to suppress political opponents.

The NCPO is now defunct, but its executive orders remain in force thanks to Article 279 of the 2017 Constitution.

Article 279 states that all NCPO announcements and orders, in effect when the current charter was promulgated, “shall be considered constitutional, lawful and effective under this Constitution” and can only be repealed or amended by Parliament or executive decree.

According to iLaw, at least 35 of the NCPO’s executive orders violated principles of human rights and democracy, including those that permitted the military to summon and detain people for seven days without charge, that banned political gatherings of five people or more, and that gagged the media.

Seventeen of the executive orders are still in force while the rest were repealed by the junta or Constitutional Court. However, repealed laws still govern ongoing cases. For instance, the NCPO’s revocation of orders permitting civilian cases to be tried in military courts did not affect ongoing cases.

What the bill says

The bill is officially called the Draft Act on the Annulment of Announcements and Orders by the National Council for Peace and Order and the NCPO Leader That Are Against the Human Rights and Democratic Principles.

This seven-article draft legislation calls for the annulment of 29 NCPO announcements and orders that it says restrict the right of expression, the right to civilian trial, media freedom, and communities’ rights regarding natural resources and the environment.

The bill also seeks to dispose of cases filed or tried under NCPO executive orders and to release all defendants imprisoned under the orders.

Moreover, it would also give civilians tried by military court under NCPO orders the right to seek retrial by civilian court. Civilians currently being tried by military court may ask for their cases to be transferred to or retried by civilian court.

Call for support

Government critics are calling on MPs, both opposition and coalition, to vote in support of iLaw’s bill. They said its passage would help “disarm” the junta’s successors of the legacy they inherited from the NCPO.

Opposition MP Rangsiman Rome, who is deputy secretary-general of the Move Forward Party, likened the junta’s orders to a chain binding Thailand, preventing the country from advancing to a more promising future. Passing the bill, he said, would throw off that chain.

Former justice minister Chaturon Chaisang agrees that the NCPO orders must be lifted, warning that the government could still use them, in violation of the spirit of the law. Those orders that blatantly violate human rights and press freedom should be the first to be lifted, he added.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

A Malaysian court on Wednesday upheld former premier Najib Razak’s conviction on corruption charges over a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), dealing a blow to his hopes of a political comeback.

Najib was appealing a 12-year prison sentence and $50 million fine imposed by Kuala Lumpur High Court last year for criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering, one of five trials he is facing over corruption allegations.

The 1MDB case, which a U.S. attorney-general described as the worst form of kleptocracy, has cast a shadow over Malaysian politics since questions about the fund first emerged years ago.

U.S. and Malaysian authorities say $4.5 billion was believed to have been stolen and more than $1 billion made its way into Najib’s personal accounts.

Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty at the trial last year though the court found he had illegally received about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of now-defunct 1MDB.

Court of Appeal Judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, who led a three-member panel on the decision, said they agreed unanimously with the high court on Najib’s conviction and sentencing, and dismissed his defence that all his actions regarding SRC were in the national interest.

“There is no national interest here, just a national embarrassment,” Abdul Karim said.

The judge also said the evidence showed Najib knew or had reason to believe the funds in his accounts were proceeds of illegal activities and had failed to take steps to determine them as such.

Wearing a black suit, Najib showed no emotion as the judgment was read out and was seen taking notes occasionally during the hearing.

His appeal has been closely watched amid fears that ruling party leaders facing criminal charges could secure leniency after the return of Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), to power in August.

‘I DID NOT KNOW’

Najib has been free on bail pending the appeal, and Abdul Karim agreed to his request to be released on bail again and stayed the sentence.

At a virtual briefing after the verdict, Najib said he was disappointed with the decision and would appeal at the Federal Court, Malaysia’s top tribunal.

“I did not know and I did not ask and I did not order anyone to move the 42 million ringgit ($9.95 million) to my account,” Najib said.

Prosecutor V. Sithambaram told reporters Najib’s appeal process at the top court could take up to nine months.

Najib faces a total of 42 criminal charges and five trials, including the SRC case, but remains influential and has been eyeing a political comeback, telling Reuters in September he has not ruled out seeking re-election to parliament.

He remains a lawmaker despite the conviction but the constitution bars him from contesting elections unless he gets a pardon or a reprieve from the country’s monarch.

Adib Zalkapli, director of political risk consultancy BowerGroupAsia, said an acquittal would have given Najib the chance to reclaim the top job.

“But with the court’s decision to uphold the guilty verdict, he has to wait a little longer before he could potentially make a credible comeback,” he said.

Polls are not due until 2023 but analysts have said they could be called as early as the middle of next year, when a cooperation pact signed between the government and the opposition expires.

Asked if he would contest the next election, Najib told the news conference: “We will cross the bridge when we come to it.”

($1 = 4.2200 ringgit)

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

While defending the arrests of 36 protesters, from Jana district in Songkhla province, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced today (Tuesday) that his government is willing to listen to the protesters’ concerns.

He promised to assign senior officials from the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre and the Prime Minister’s Office to meet with representatives of the residents of Jana district, to listen to their problems and to try to work out a solution.

The prime minister blamed former Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao, then head of a fact finding committee charged with resolving the conflict over the industrial estate project, for the rush to conclude a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the protesters without cabinet approval.

He explained that the police needed to break up the protest in front of Government House last night because there were reports that other anti-government groups may join them.

He gave his assurance, however, that the police will soon release all the protesters, who were charged with obstructing traffic and violating the state of emergency decree.

Responding to the prime minister’s criticism, Thammanat, currently secretary-general of the ruling Palang Pracharat party, said in his Facebook post that, since he has left the cabinet, he is not in a position to step in to help resolve the problem for the protesters and residents of Jana district, who are against the industrial estate project.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission called on the government to release the detained protesters unconditionally, arguing that they had merely exercised their basic rights, as enshrined in the Constitution, and had demonstrated peacefully.

The commission also called on the government to allow residents of Jana district to participate in the decision-making process, in a project which may affect their livelihoods and way of life, and to allow the media to have access to information and to observe the situation on the ground, free from obstruction or intimidation by the authorities.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS)