Despite term being expired, expensive vacation planned
Ideas by lawmakers to travel abroad on outings costing millions of dollars have received criticism as their terms expire on May 10.
Plodprasop Suraswadi, a former deputy prime minister, and vocal Senator Seree Suwanpanont, have encouraged the lawmakers to visit off their trips.
According to Mr. Plodprasop, lawmakers ‘ upcoming international research trips will total cost 81 million baht.
He claimed that for visits make no sense because they have less than a month until their Senate terms are up.
The Senate’s council on military forces and state protection, chaired by Gen Boonsang Niempradit, for example, plans to go on a trip to Kazakhstan and Georgia on May 2-9 for diplomatic sessions, said Mr Plodprasop.
Among other international excursions planned include a trip to Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia on May 14-23, which may occur after the Senate’s career has ended, according to Mr Plodprasop.
He stated that a second trip is planned for travel from May 27 to June 3 for diplomatic sessions and a research journey involving the development of artificial intelligence in Finland, Sweden, and Estonia.
” Feel me again, did you? As an old friend, I’d suggest you ( senators ) cancel your trips, or else these trips will ruin all the integrity you have maintained,” he said.
Gen Boonsang has defended himself and other legislators who intend to travel there, saying that the state’s funds should be used to finance them because they will provide information and knowledge that will help these legislators ‘ future work.
He claimed that the 81 million baht is n’t that much given the large number of trips and participants.
For trips should have been carried out earlier but were put on hold due to the Covid-19 epidemic, he added.
Please do n’t interpret these trips as leisure activities because our terms of service are coming to an end soon. As legislators, we had avoided as much as possible making a research trip abroad; maybe we passed a weak law due to a shortage of first-hand practice,” he said.
These trips are also aimed mainly at building new bilateral assistance, he said.
Gen Boonsang stated that this is only his second journey in five years.
Mr Seree said he could n’t agree with all the planned trips.
” When it comes to spending the express resources, we have to be extra cautious and set a good example,” he said.
Mr. Seree claimed that he has occasionally advocated for the Senate’s revocation of all of its international trips, which the Upper House supported and detested.
Given that the Senate’s expression is scheduled to end next month, Move Forward Party MP for Chachoengsao Jirat Thongsuwan on Friday expressed concerns about the viability of the Senate committees ‘ international trips.
He questioned whether taxpayers may benefit from those planned trips because the Senate boards claim that they would get information for the development of the country through these study trips.
” There’s no time left for them to operate and grow the land. However, if such trips are open to public examination for the sake of transparency, it should n’t be a problem,” he said.
The Senate committee’s international study trips appear to be leisure trips, in the opinion of Mr. Jirat, rather than fulfilling their stated goals. Nevertheless, he said there is little the government could do to prevent such trips.
Additionally, Mr. Jirat expressed concern that the new Senate might not have enough money for upcoming investigation trips abroad.