Barkar Nash (Page 1,074)

Narongpan says army has learnt its lesson

Army chief Gen Narongpan Jittkaewtae on Thursday provided assurances that no coups will take place while he is in charge, saying the word “coup” should not exist in anyone’s vocabulary.

Gen Narongpan, who will retire on Sept 30, spoke to the media in the lead-up to Sunday’s election amid concern that the country may experience unrest after the polls.

Asked if he is concerned about the potential of future unrest that could prompt a reaction from the military, the army chief said he wasn’t.

“I don’t worry. We have learned many lessons from the past,” Gen Narongpan said.

“We have reached a point where democracy has to go ahead. Everyone should be mindful and avoid what should not be done.”

Asked whether another coup will occur after the election, Gen Narongpan said reporters should not raise such a matter as this could stir up conflict.

“The term should not be used. It is not appropriate. I want reporters to remove it from your dictionary,” the army chief said.

Quizzed on whether the military should also remove the word from its vocabulary, Gen Narongpan said: “Of course, it’s removed.”

Asked whether he can confirm that during his stint as army chief, soldiers will not act in a way that raises concern among the public, Gen Narongpan said: “I cannot say whether the country will be peaceful. I mean that peace can only be achieved by everyone working together.”

“But I can assure you that what occurred [coups] in the past. The chance is zero now,” he said.

Asked for thoughts about a change of the status quo, the army chief said that change is inevitable, though things should change for the better rather than for the worse.

“The country needs to be peaceful so the economy can grow. But if we are in conflict and stir up unrest, the country will be in chaos, and people will be in trouble. Everyone must work together in the country’s best interests,” he said.

Soldiers urged to vote

Gen Narongpan said he had encouraged army personnel to exercise their democratic rights to vote on Sunday.

Narongpan: Wants soldiers to vote

The army, through all of its channels of communication, has urged all personnel and their families to carry out their duty as good citizens by casting their votes, he said.

The army chief also downplayed a move by some political parties to replace conscription with voluntary recruitment if they form a government after the election.

“They have the right to carry out their policy if they become the government, but the military also has the right to explain why conscription is necessary,” Gen Narongpan said.

“Everyone has the right to agree or disagree [with conscription]. We can have different opinions. That’s normal,” he said.

Asked to comment if the Move Forward Party, which has been critical of the military, can be part of the coalition government after the poll, the army chief said: “That’s about the future. No one knows about it until after the election. It is up to political parties to form a coalition, while military personnel are not political-office holders.”

Gen Narongpan went on to say that he has issued guidelines for how army personnel can behave in the lead-up to Sunday’s election.

Entering a polling station with T-shirts bearing the names of political parties is against the law, the army chief warned.

Demonstrators demanded justice for 15-year-old detained for alleged lese-majeste offence

Nine people arrested late Wednesday after a violent protest at the Samran Rat police station night remain in custody after the Criminal Court adjourned a hearing on Thursday evening.

The court has finished examining the police complaints against the group and would reconvene on Friday at 9am to rule on their request for further detention, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The seven men and two women were arrested for leading around 20 people to splash and spray paint at the station in Phra Nakhon district, said Pol Maj Gen Nakharin Sukhonthawit, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 6.

The group caused significant damage by breaking a glass door and splashing and spraying paint on walls, passages and stairs of the station, he said on Thursday.

A policeman who tried to contain the situation was hit in the head and required seven stitches, further escalating the violence.

Pol Maj Gen Nakharin said such an incident should not have happened as it damaged state property acquired with taxpayers’ money.

The nine demonstrators have been charged with damaging state property, attacking government officials, and trespassing. Police will seek a court order for their detention, according to the commander.

The protesters had gathered to demand justice for a 15-year-old girl who has been detained for more than 40 days on a charge of royal defamation under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.

Her supporters descended on the Samran Rat station after learning that officers there were preparing to lay an additional charge against the teen.

The girl known as Thanalop or “Yok” is scheduled to appear today in family court, where prosecutors are expected to seek approval for another 15-day detention period.

Yok has been held at the Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Centre for Girls in Samphran district of Nakhon Pathom province since March 29.

According to Pol Maj Gen Nakharin, police had no choice but to abide by the law in the girl’s case since no guardians had showed up to seek her temporary release.

Yok herself released a statement on Facebook on Thursday saying that she was not asking for bail as she did not recognise the court process, and would not accept the lawyers that the court has appointed.

Authorities advise against second crop as El Nino will reduce rainfall this year

Farmers are being asked to grow only one rice crop this coming season as rainfall will be below average because of the El Nino weather pattern, says the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR).

The rainy season, which normally begins in the third week of May, will start a bit later this year with a period of intermittent rain in June, said Surasee Kittimonthon, the ONWR secretary-general.

The agency has devised a water management plan for the country’s dams to help preserve water. Its success, he said, would depend on close cooperation from all stakeholders, especially farmers, to save water.

“We can provide water to farmers for the first rice crop, starting in the rainy season,” he said. “But for the second or third crops, we would like farmers’ cooperation to grow other plants that need less water to help limit the water shortage.”

The ONWR on Thursday discussed water management for the rainy season with the Royal Irrigation Department, the Meteorological Department, the Department of Water Resources, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and other agencies.

As a result of El Nino, Mr Surasee said rainfall would be 5% less than average. Heavy rainfall will be seen from August to September, covering 60-80% of the country.

He said that at least two tropical storms would hit the country in August and September, which could top up water in some dams. He also warned of heavy rain in the North, the Northeast and the East this weekend as Cyclone Mocha would reach Myanmar on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Royal Irrigation Department said that water in the reservoir of the Bhumibol Dam in Tak province was currently at 43% of capacity, while the figure for the Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit was 22%.

Election Commission says ECT Report website capable of handling 1 million users per minute

The Election Commission expects unofficial results of the election to be known by 11pm on Sunday, saying results of ballot counts from polling stations nationwide will be compiled, verified and then published via its ECT Report website from 7pm onwards.

The ECT Report website is capable of handling up to one million users per minute, said Suranee Pontawee, deputy secretary-general of the commission.

The EC will report results of the election in three main categories: overall figures of nationwide ballot counts, election results by province and results by political party, she said.

Voting will take place from 8am to 5pm on Sunday. The first update is expected by 7pm, after polling station committees finish recording results of their ballot counts and begin submitting the data to the EC through ECT Report, she said.

The Government Big Data Institute is responsible for publishing the results on the web.

To minimise the chances of human error, each ballot counting team will have two staff members and each team will be assigned to handle results from no more than 20 polling stations, said Ms Suranee.

The EC will verify results in each polling station first by comparing them against turnout figures and all types of votes counted in that particular station before publishing them online, she said.

EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee, meanwhile, said everyone is allowed to photograph or film a vote count as long as they don’t disturb the process.

Taking a picture of a marked ballot, however, is against the election law, he cautioned.

Observers are allowed to immediately correct ballot-counting staff when they notice a mistake, he said.

They are also allowed to file a written complaint at the polling station regarding any possible mistakes in ballot counting. Staff members at the station are required to record the objection, along with the station committee’s response, he said.

The Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) group has been recruiting thousands of volunteers to work as election observers at polling stations across the country. It has published detailed instructions for voters on its Election 66 page.

Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Police have insisted all officers who will be deployed at polling stations have been trained on election laws and are required to maintain political neutrality to ensure law and order on polling day.

Angry onlooker punches lawyer in mouth over complaint against Pheu Thai Party

Serial petitioner Srisuwan Janya was punched in the mouth on Thursday after giving a statement to the Election Commission to support his complaint against the Pheu Thai Party’s 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme.

The sudden attack occurred at 11.15am when a man wearing a suit walked towards Mr Srisuwan, who was speaking to reporters at the EC office, and suddenly punched him in the mouth.

The attacker shouted: “You’re filing too many complaints. Nonsense! Why did you file complaints against the Pheu Thai and Move Forward parties? Why are you filing a complaint against Pita (Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat)? The general election is approaching”.

Before leaving, he said, “I’ve tolerated your conduct for so long.”

The attacker was later identified as Thotsaphon Thananonsophonkul, 67, a retired university lecturer.

The incident caught Mr Srisuwan off guard. The activist, who has lodged hundreds of petitions with state agencies and courts over the years, removed his face mask to show a bleeding lower lip to reporters.

Mr Srisuwan, 55, later filed an assault complaint against Mr Thotsaphon with Thung Song Hong police.

It was not the first time the activist has been physically attacked by someone accusing him of showing a bias against critics of the government, something he has denied.

His supporters point out that in 2019 he questioned whether Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was eligible to stand as a prime ministerial candidate as the Constitution prohibits “state officials” from doing so. The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint.

When the Prayut-led National Council for Peace and Order was in power after the 2014 coup, Mr Srisuwan filed numerous complaints against its members and associates. In return, he was regularly summoned by the junta for “attitude adjustment”.

In October last year, Mr Srisuwan wass assaulted, but not seriously hurt when he arrived to register a complaint against comedian Udom “Nose” Taepanich with police at the Central Investigation Bureau.

A group led by red-shirt leader Weerawit Rungruangsiripol was waiting for him when he arrived to ask police to take action against the popular comic. Mr Srisuwan did not think Nose’s jokes about Gen Prayut were funny.

Mr Weerawit punched, grabbed and kicked at the activist before police and onlookers intervened.

Mr Srisuwan had gone to the EC head office on Thursday to give details to support his complaint about Pheu Thai’s policy of a 10,000-baht digital handout to everyone aged 16 and over.

He said such a pledge could violate Section 73 of the election law, which prohibits candidates or other figures from promising to give voters assets, money or benefits. It also prohibits them from providing misleading information about policies.

Pheu Thai, which is widely expected to win the most seats in Sunday’s election, has pledged that every Thai aged over 16 will receive a new bank savings account and a digital wallet connected to his or her ID.

Srettha Thavisin, a business executive and Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate, has said the scheme would cost 560 billion baht, all of which could be accounted for financially. He said it would help unleash an “economic tsunami” that would include 160 billion baht in additional tax revenue.

PPRP candidate presses for Pita to be barred on grounds that he holds shares in a defunct media business

A Palang Pracharath candidate has asked the Election Commission if all Move Forward Party candidates should be barred from holding office if their leader is found to have violated a rule against holding shares in a media business.

Ruangkrai Leekitwattana on Thursday cited the opposition party’s own regulations in seeking an even broader interpretation from the EC in the case of Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

On Wednesday the PPRP party-list candidate submitted documents to the EC to support his claim that Mr Pita’s trusteeship of shares held by his late father in a long-defunct TV broadcaster could be grounds to bar him from being an MP.

Mr Ruangkrai said Move Forward Party regulations state that its members must not have engaged in any activity banned under Section 98 of the constitution. Holding shares in a mass media organisation is one such criterion for disqualification.

On Wednesday he asked the EC to disqualify Mr Pita from politics for alleged concealment of his shareholding in iTV Plc. He cited Section 98 as the reason.

On Thursday Mr Ruangkrai said he asked the EC to determine if a breach of Section 98 would also result in the termination of Mr Pita’s membership and leadership, in line with the regulations of his party.

In such a case, he suggested, his certification of all party-list and constituency candidates could be in doubt.

EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee said the EC would take time to consider the case to ensure justice, adding that it should not have any impact on the announcement of vote results on Sunday.

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a Move Forward campaign assistant and co-founder of the party’s predecessor, Future Forward, wrote on Facebook that the party was not discouraged by any legal attacks.

On the contrary, he said, such attempts to slow its momentum could trigger a show of power by MFP supporters nationwide.

Mr Pita explained on Tuesday that he had informed the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of the shareholding situation when he declared his assets in 2019. The shares in iTV were held by his father, who died in 2006. In his role as manager of his father’s estate, Mr Pita said he had tried to sell the shares but could not find a buyer.

iTV stopped broadcasting in 2007 and its licence was taken over by Thai PBS. The company was delisted from the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014. However, iTV’s business registration remains active because litigation over concession fees owed to the government is not yet concluded, a Thai PBS executive said on Wednesday.

Ownership of shares in a media company led to the ouster of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the co-founder of Future Forward, after the 2019 election. In Mr Thanathorn’s case, he had held shares in a defunct travel magazine.

The intention of the EC regulation was to ensure that elected politicians could not influence media coverage or financial dealings between media firms and the government. However, in Mr Thanathorn’s case the EC chose to adhere to the letter of the law rather than the spirit.

That led to calls for a review of media shareholdings by dozens of other MPs elected in 2019. The Constitutional Court ruled in October 2020 that one Move Forward MP was guilty but it cleared 57 other MPs, from both government and opposition parties.