Prayut tight-lipped about future

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is keeping mum about his political future after the defeat of his party in Sunday's election. Chanat Katanyu
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is keeping mum about his political future after the defeat of his party in Sunday’s election. Chanat Katanyu

Outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday remained silent about his political future in the wake of Sunday’s general election after chairing a caretaker cabinet meeting.

Reporters asked if he would quit politics, and he smiled, saying: “No comment.”

Gen Prayut was also tight-lipped when reporters asked if he would remain in the fight and stay with the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party.

He likewise declined to comment on the possibility of former opposition party Pheu Thai joining hands with parties in his outgoing government and isolating the Move Forward Party, which won the most House seats.

Gen Prayut said his government remained on duty and was doing its best pending the formation of the new government. He thanked people for their moral support for him and his government over the past few years. He also thanked all voters who exercised their rights at Sunday’s polls and congratulated all political parties that received votes.

“Although the UTN is newly formed, the party has received satisfactory feedback,” he said.

“The UTN will still be devoted to the three pillars of Thai society — nation, religions and monarchy — including people no matter their position,” he added.

Gen Prayut said he was happy with the process of forming a new government.

“I would like all Thai people to cooperate and promote unity,” he said. “This is done for stability in the nation so that we can have no conflict and we can jointly develop the nation.”

The UTN Party, which nominated Gen Prayut as its prime ministerial candidate, finished fifth in Sunday’s election with 36 House seats, compared to the Move Forward Party’s 152 and Pheu Thai’s 141, according to the latest figures.

Thirteen ministers were reported absent from yesterday’s cabinet meeting.

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MFP candidate Nateepat resigns

Nateepat: Caught drink-driving
Nateepat: Caught drink-driving

Move Forward Party list MP-elect Nateepat Kulsetasit has resigned as an MP candidate of the party after police arrested her for drink-driving early yesterday morning.

Ms Nateepat told reporters she apologised to the public because she had disappointed people and would no longer be able to vote for the same-sex marriage legislation she had been pushing for.

She said she met some friends around 11pm on Monday and had three or four drinks. She denied resisting a police request to take a breathalyser.

Ms Nateepat, 46, was stopped at a checkpoint on Prasert Manukit Road in Lat Phrao district of Bangkok. A breath test showed she was over the legal limit.

Move Forward unofficially won 152 House seats including 39 list seats in Sunday’s election.

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Polish man arrested over grisly murder

A Polish man, who police alleged murdered and dismembered his Ukrainian girlfriend, was detained yesterday at the Bangkok South Criminal Court after more than an hour of interrogation.

Pol Col Arthit Rojpaitoon, Wat Phaya Krai Police Station superintendent, said Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, was arrested in Sa Kaeo province’s Aranyaprathet district on Monday night.

He was transferred to Wat Phaya Krai Police Station in Bangkok at 4am yesterday.

The suspect was arrested after allegedly murdering and dismembering the body of Alona Savchenko, 25, with a handsaw at a high-rise condominium in Bang Kholaem district after arriving as a tourist on April 29.

Condominium staff later found her remains. Mr Lagoda-Filippow was later arrested following a tip-off from a taxi driver.

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Pheu Thai denies Bhumjaithai deal talk

Sutin: Respect people's mandate
Sutin: Respect people’s mandate

The Pheu Thai Party has dismissed media speculation that it plans to enter talks with Bhumjaithai, the third biggest party, to try and form a coalition government together.

Deputy Pheu Thai leader Sutin Klungsang insisted there was no substance to such speculation, adding that the party made this very clear in a post-election statement.

“If we had such a plan and acted on it, there’s no way people could accept it,” he said.

Pheu Thai would like to work with a party people accepted as having the mandate to lead the next government, said Mr Sutin referring to the Move Forward Party (MFP), which emerged from Sunday’s election as the biggest party. MFP has approached Pheu Thai to be a potential coalition partner.

Mr Sutin said he believed the new government would take shape within the next 30 days and become fully functional in about two months.

He also downplayed a remark made by Senator Wanchai Sornsiri that the biggest party might eventually end up on the opposition benches if it fails to gather enough support from other parties to form a government.

Anutin: Caption

Admitting such a scenario is technically possible for a coalition supporting the biggest party to fall short, but in a democracy, both the MPs and senators should respect the people’s mandate in electing a prime minister for parliament, Mr Sutin said. “We should learn from the previous election,” he added.

In the 2019 election, Pheu Thai won the most MP seats only to see the Palang Pracharath Party, the second-biggest party, success- fully cobble together enough support from MPs from various parties to establish a coalition government with Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha returning as prime minister. However, Mr Sutin pointed out that it would be “another story” if the biggest party tried to put together a government but still could not garner sufficient backing from other parties.

Meanwhile, Bhumjaithai issued a statement yesterday pledging to preserve the party’s onus by letting the biggest party have a free hand to build a coalition government.

The statement also denied media reports that party leader Anutin Charnvirakul had given an interview to reporters regarding the government’s formation.

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Abhisit return rumours swirl

Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is suited to the job of salvaging a Democrat Party crushed in Sunday’s general election, according to deputy party leader Sathit Pitutecha.

Mr Sathit said yesterday that Mr Abhisit has what it takes to return and reverse the party’s fortunes after it suffered one of its most crushing election losses, prompting Jurin Laksanawisit to step down as leader and accept responsibility for the defeat on Sunday evening.

The Democrats grabbed just 22 MP seats from the constituencies and three more from the list system, according to an Election Commission (EC) update on the vote count yesterday afternoon.

Mr Jurin, who vowed to resign if the party won less than 25 seats, had already announced he was quitting before the party hit that target late into Sunday evening.

Yesterday, Mr Sathit said a plan to welcome Mr Abhisit back to replace Mr Jurin is already being openly discussed among party members.

He also called on politicians who defected before the polls to return and help restore the party to its former glory.

The Democrats, Mr Sathit added, have arrived at a point where the party must start anew to gain wider support from the people, as Sunday’s unofficial election results were highly indicative of the direction that voters want to see the country moving towards.

Democrat members must sit down and figure out a way to recover, said Mr Sathit, who is also deputy public health minister.

The party must also buckle down and learn from its poll defeat, he said.

Mr Sathit said the party’s plan to move forward must be reworked around the need to tap into swing voters and those who do not regularly follow the news. That will be worked into the party’s strategy from now on, he said.

However, Mr Sathit noted it has been particularly challenging to reach out to groups who prefer to receive only one-sided information.

He said that the party must try to get the public to pay attention to what it offers amid a sea of information out there.

“After losing the war, we shall retreat, nurse our wounded soldiers back to health and retrieve the weapons. We will gradually find our feet again,” he said.

Mr Sathit insisted new members that span generations are needed to drive the party machine back into office.

The job should not be given wholly to the younger members, although those with outstanding ability should play prominent roles in charting the new course.

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Senators slow to warm to Pita’s PM bid

Senators have expressed mixed opinions on whether to support Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party, which won the most House seats in Sunday’s election, to become the next prime minister.

Senator Peeraksak Porjit said that it is up to parties to gather enough support to nominate a prime ministerial candidate for a vote in parliament.

“Senators will also consider who they will nominate and whether the candidate is suitable,” Mr Peerasak said, adding that senators should not abstain from voting.

Asked to comment on Mr Pita’s suitability, Mr Peerasak said that first, the parties with the most seats must drum up support for their choices before senators examine the qualifications of each candidate and the policy platforms that saw them voted into parliament.

“In principle, senators should respect the decision of the majority of MPs,” he said.

Senator Jetn Sirathranont echoed the sentiment.

“The poll result shows that people would want [senators] to vote for candidates either from the MFP or Pheu Thai.

“The political party that wins the most seats has the right to gather support and form a government first. If it fails, the party that wins the second-largest number of seats will be given a chance,” he said.

Senator Wallop Tangkananurak also said he shares that belief and is ready to support a candidate nominated by a party that can gather the support of more than 250 MPs.

However, he said he was baffled by an about-face by the MFP, which had earlier tried to “switch off” or remove the Senate’s power to join MPs in selecting a prime minister in parliament.

“But they [the MFP] are now calling on senators not to abstain from voting and instead support its prime ministerial candidate?” Mr Wallop said.

However, Jadet Insawang insisted that he would not vote for Mr Pita if he was nominated.

“Mr Pita has been attempting to scrap Section 112 [the lese majeste law], and that is unacceptable,” the senator said.

Meanwhile, Senator Seree Suwanpanont said he wanted the MFP to clarify its aim as to whether it would scrap the law entirely, as “There are several parties that disagree with the move to revise Section 112”.

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Senators urged to support Pita

Two civil society groups have called on the Senate to respect the choice of the majority who want the Move Forward Party’s (MFP) Pita Limjaroenrat to be prime minister.

The Rural Doctors Society (RDS) and the Law CU Student Committee, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University (CU) yesterday voiced their stance supporting the MFP in leading a coalition government with Mr Pita as prime minister.

The MFP has gathered 310 MPs from five former opposition parties and one new party, and so still needs the support of 66 senators to meet the required 376 votes to endorse their choice of prime minister according to the constitution.

In a statement, the RDS said that all stakeholders must respect the people’s massive poll mandate by voting to support Mr Pita as the nation’s next prime minister.

RDS said it is the principle of democracy to listen to the majority’s voice.

“The RDS would like to call on the 250 senators to create real democracy by respecting the majority’s will and give their support to Mr Pita,” the statement said.

The Law CU Student Committee issued a similar statement calling for the senators to support Mr Pita as the prime minister and for all political parties to accept the people’s vote.

A party that wins the most seats in an election has the right to form the coalition government first, and it would be unacceptable if there are attempts by some parties to form a minority government, their statement read.

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CAAT bids to lower carbon emissions

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has joined hands with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as they strive for lower carbon emissions from air travel.

The aim is to reach net zero emissions by 2050, said Suthipong Kongpool, CAAT director.

Speaking after the 2023 ICAO Environmental Regional Seminar for the Asia Pacific Region organised recently in Bangkok, Mr Suthipong said the CAAT aims to cooperate with ICAO’s member countries in the Asia Pacific region as they work towards the goal to lower CO² emissions as certified by the 41st Session of the ICAO Assembly in October last year.

More than 200 staff from various agencies in each country in the Asia-Pacific region have taken part in the plan, Mr Suthipong said.

Since last year, the CAAT has carried out ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, a policy tool designed to achieve environmental goals at a lower cost and in a more flexible manner. New aircraft technologies like lighter airframes, higher engine performance and operational improvements can help achieve the goal.

Under the policy, CAAT requires Thai Airways, Thai Smile, NokAir, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai VietJet, Thai Lion Air and K-Mile Air to report their CO² emissions including amounts of fuel use, he said. 

ICAO will monitor these activities to control gas emissions in the airline industry, Mr Suthipong said. Airlines that can control gas emissions will gain a so-called “carbon credit” which is tradeable.

“One finding shows that an aircraft burns more fuel and emits more greenhouse gas while taking off and landing. So, during taxing from a gate to a runway, an aircraft should be on one engine instead of two, or full engines of four. The practice can reduce fuel use by 25%-50%,” said Mr Suthipong.

“While landing, a captain will apply a technique of steadily descending instead of the old technique of levelling which burns lots of fuel,” he said, adding that the new method can reduce fuel use by 40%. The CAAT will work with Aeronautical Radio to arrange air traffic properly.

Mr Suthipong said carbon emission reductions in aviation may be expensive at first but it will be worth the investment and will not affect ticket fares. He urged airlines to be prepared for the change.

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Local souvenir development promoted on Samui

SURAT THANI: The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) has come up with a plan to support research targeting souvenirs sold in Koh Samui.

Koh Samui is one of the top-tier tourist attractions in the country. In terms of the island’s economy, coconut is considered its main economic crop, with other plants, such as banana, also being a key material for souvenirs.

With this in mind, NRCT executive director Wiparat De-ong said the council has funded two research projects focusing on the island’s souvenir development. One study was conducted by the Faculty of Science and Technology at Thammasat University. The other helped locals with sustainability by creating a Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Centre.

The first study would help lead to better quality souvenirs, she said, while adding to the island’s earnings using scientific and technological knowledge. The second study focused on building a network of souvenir providers on the island, including learning centres that help entrepreneurs display the production process for their souvenirs and exchange knowledge.

The NRCT and its research teams also observed problems which entrepreneurs encounter with product development. Souvenirs which took the interest of researchers included kalamae (a caramel-like sweet) and the question of how to extend its shelf-life packaging; skincare products with coconut, herbal skincare products, and products made from banana fibres, such as handbags, tote bags, and bar soap. The studies aim to boost the island’s economy on the international stage as well as provide a sustainable income to residents.

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AI to aid forensic work in tackling sex crimes

Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, will introduce AI to improve forensic sciences for sex-related crimes.

The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest (BTFP) says it has granted a fund for researchers from Mahidol University who aim to revolutionise forensic pathology with AI.

Almost 9,000 rape cases were reported during 2017-2021. Narit Hnoohom, a faculty professor and project leader, said the number of sex-related crimes increases every year while the number of medical workers and forensic scientists is getting smaller.

Police must gather forensic evidence to prove an offender’s guilt. The scarcity of workers in forensic pathology results in delays in completing lab tests. Mr Narit said the AI system can help pathologists detect sperm in samples from 28 sex-related cases per day to 160 cases per day, reducing the average processing time from 17 minutes per case to three minutes per case.

AI technology also can improve the precision of sperm detection up to 97.2%, Mr Narit added. The data fed into AI comes from forensic scientists and forensic pathologists. “The faculty will launch the AI trial version at Siriraj Hospital. In the future, we plan to install the system at the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Central Institute of Forensic Science to help them identify sex offenders,” he said.

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