Barkar Nash (Page 959)

Wants issue raised at first cabinet meeting

The Move Forward Party (MFP) yesterday called on Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to keep his promise to discuss the issue of holding a referendum on a charter rewrite at his first cabinet meeting.

The call came after the House of Representatives yesterday rejected the party’s bid to move up a motion on rewriting the entire constitution. The motion was the 33rd item on the House’s agenda.

MFP list-MP Parit Wacharasindhu said the party accepted the House’s decision and urged Mr Srettha to prioritise the proposed referendum in the new government’s first cabinet meeting, which could be as soon as Tuesday.

Mr Parit said the referendum must clearly ask whether the charter should be completely rewritten and if the body writing it should be directly elected.

Last November, the House endorsed an opposition-backed motion with 323 MPs voting in support of a charter rewrite referendum, but it was later shot down by the Senate.

The motion called on the government to hold a referendum to ask the public if a new constitution should be drawn up by a charter-drafting assembly of elected representatives to replace the current charter.

The MFP submitted a similar motion when the House re-convened and it was placed 33rd on the list.

In asking the House to move the motion up, Mr Parit said the matter would not affect the deliberation of other issues because MPs would only be asked to confirm what several parties had already supported.

Attakorn Sirilatthayakorn, a Palang Pracharath Party MP for Chachoengsao, disagreed, saying other motions were equally important and many dealt with pressing problems faced by farmers.

Khrumanit Sangphum, a Pheu Thai MP for Surin, said the proposed referendum would soon be discussed by the cabinet and the House should focus on people’s needs.

The MFP’s request to move the charter reform motion up for deliberation was rejected by 262 MPs, with 143 voting in support and one abstaining.

Meanwhile, the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) group yesterday submitted a petition involving the rewriting of the 2017 constitution to the Election Commission, along with the signatures of 211,914 people supporting it. The EC said it has to verify the authenticity of those who signed the petition, not deal with the questions to be asked at a referendum.

Pheu Thai this week accepted for consideration iLaw’s petition on the referendum.

Phitsanulok woman convicted of royal defamation protesting against denial of bail while she appeals

A woman convicted of royal defamation has been admitted to the Correctional Hospital with exhaustion on the 10th day of her hunger strike, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

The 30-year-old woman, identified only as Warunee, began refusing food on Aug 21 to protest against the refusal of the courts to grant her bail while she appeals her sentence.

She consumed only soy milk on the first three days and since then has been taking only water. She has lost four kilogrammes so far, according to TLHR.

The Phitsanulok resident has been held at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution since June 28, when the Criminal Court sentenced her to three years in prison for posting an edited picture on Facebook deemed to have insulted His Majesty the King under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law.

The sentence was reduced to one year and six months because the accused confessed. Her lawyers have since made five applications for bail while their client appeals, and all have been rejected. The Court of Appeal has deemed the prisoner a flight risk and said her lawyers’ claim that she suffers from bipolar disorder does not have a bearing on the case.

The offence with which Warunee was charged took place in December 2021. The complaint was filed by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims, which as filed numerous lese-majeste charges against activists including Parit Chiwarak, Anon Nampa and Panusaya Sithijirawattankul.

Another inmate, Weha Saencholchanasuk, has been on a hunger strike at the Bangkok Remand Prison for seven days as an expression of solidarity with Warunee, according to TLHR.

He has been detained since May 18 after the Criminal Court sentenced him to 3 years and 18 months in prison for a Twitter post that violated Section 112. He has also been denied bail.

According to data from TLHR to July 31 this year, 1,918 people have been prosecuted for political participation and expression since the beginning of the Free Youth protests in July 2020. At least 253 are facing lese-majeste charges under Section 112 and 130 have been charged with sedition under Section 116.

Riders ‘exposed to constant danger’ amid pressure to meet schedules

A group of delivery motorcycle riders has called on the Ministry of Labour to provide them with legal protection and financial compensation if they are involved in road accidents.

Supaporn Phanprasit, a group representative, told reporters that the riders who work with various apps and e-commerce platforms are exposed to constant danger during their delivery rounds.

As they must race against time to deliver food and parcels quickly, they sometimes find themselves involved in traffic accidents, often resulting in injuries. Some lose their limbs or even their lives.

However, many never receive any financial assistance or compensation from either the other party in the accident or platform operators, Ms Supaporn said.

Being a delivery rider is not officially recognised as a part-time job because it comes with legal conditions and agreements attached. Moreover, a full-time labour system governs the income shared between the riders and their platforms.

“As we are considered (by law) to be ‘employees’, we urge the Ministry of Labour to talk with the delivery platform operators to provide rider protection, including accident insurance and cover our medical costs of up to 10,000 baht for each rider (injured in a traffic accident),” said Ms Supaporn.

Crowds of delivery drivers gathered at the ministry recently to seek help from the new government. They asked officials to rein in the delivery platforms and ensure they offer better welfare protection and fair income.

“We want to have a compensation fund set up to improve the welfare of delivery riders,” said Ms Supaporn. “The compensation must be launched immediately to lighten the financial burden on the riders and their families.”

Maneewan Wongsrikham, a 38-year-old former delivery rider, said her leg was amputated after her motorcycle hit a truck that failed to signal before making a turn.

She received 800 baht a month from a government welfare scheme for people with disabilities, adding that no compensation has been forthcoming from the platform she worked for.

Kasemsan Kruecharoen, director of the Informal Labour Protection Division, said delivery platform operators and their riders had been invited to talks to find a solution together.

The ministry has also drafted an informal labour law that highlights welfare protection for delivery riders. The bill is being vetted by parliament, Mr Kasemsan said.

He said some people work as full-time riders while others do not. During their talks, the platform operators agreed to provide riders with financial protection during their working hours. However, the riders want that protection extended around the clock.

Cholnan keeps promise made during campaign but is expected to still have a cabinet seat

Dr Cholnan Srikaew has kept his word and resigned as the leader of the Pheu Thai Party because of its decision to form a government with military-linked parties.

The veteran politician from Nan told a news conference at Pheu Thai headquarters on Wednesday evening that on April 28, during the campaign for the May 14 election, he made a promise to resign if his party formed a coalition with the Palang Pracharath Party.

Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, an outgoing deputy prime minister and brother-in-arms of former premier Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, leads Palang Pracharath and his brother is expected to have a seat in the new cabinet.

Dr Cholnan, a 62-year-old physician and former hospital director in Nan, said his resignation would have no impact on his MP status. He is widely expected to be named to the cabinet as the minister of public health.

Chusak Sirinil, the deputy leader of Pheu Thai, will head the party for now, while an election to pick a new leader and executive board would be held in 60 days, said secretary-general Prasert Chanthararuangthong.

Dr Cholnan said now was the right time for his resignation because the government formation has been completed with Pheu Thai getting 17 cabinet positions.

“The mission is accomplished. I, Dr Cholnan Srikaew, am keeping my promise that if the Pheu Thai Party and its executive board resolved to form a government with the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and seal a deal with Uncle Pom (Gen Prawit’s nickname), I as the party leader would resign,” he said.

Political rivals had been pressing Dr Cholnan to step down immediately after Pheu Thai announced its new coalition alliance on Aug 21. However, he said he wanted to stay on for a few more days until the cabinet selection process was complete.

Pheu Thai, which came second in the May 14 election, withdrew earlier this month from its previous coalition alliance with the election-winning Move Forward Party, which was unable to get its leader elected as prime minister in parliament.

Dr Cholnan said he was proud of the role he had played as the leader of Pheu Thai and dismayed by the verbal attacks on him and the party.

A native of Nan, Dr Cholnan was first elected to the House in 2001 under the Thai Rak Thai banner. He served as deputy minister of public health in the Yingluck Shinawatra government in 2012 and 2103. He was elected leader of the Pheu Thai Party in October 2021.

Membership and methods for selecting chairs of 35 committees to be discussed Thursday

The new House standing committees will begin working once their members are selected from the various parties represented in parliament, which is expected to happen by the middle of next month, deputy House speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan said on Wednesday.

Mr Pichet said House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha has authorised him to manage the appointment of members of various committees that will deal with state administration that require urgent attention.

The parties represented in parliament will meet to discuss the appointments on Thursday. In total, there are 35 House standing committees, each dealing with a different issue. Members serve until parliament is dissolved.

Mr Pichet said that on Sept 7, the parties will meet again to decide the method of electing the chairs of the committees.

On Sept 12, the parties are expected to submit the names of their candidates for each position. The next day, the names will be announced in parliament.

On Sept 14, the standing committees will convene their first meetings, during which they will select the chair, deputy chairs and spokespeople. They will begin working right away, Mr Pichet said.

The deputy speaker said the number of committee chairs a party is entitled to have depends on the size of the party.

The Move Forward Party (MFP) with 151 MPs, for example, will get to pick the chairs for 11 committees. However, the number will drop to 10 if the  party’s House seats fall to 150 or below, which would happen if it loses the by-election in Rayong on Sept 10.

The by-election was called following the resignation of MFP MP Nakornchai Khunnarong on Aug 3, after it was revealed he had served 18 months in prison for petty theft 24 years ago.

Mr Pichet said Thursday’s meeting would discuss a Move Forward recommendation on committee chair selection. The party maintains that a committee cannot be chaired by a member of a party that controls the ministry the committee is supposed to oversee.

For example, a House committee on financial affairs should not be chaired by someone from a party that oversees the Finance Ministry.

Three convicted of torching police vehicles during 2022 anti-government protest in Din Daeng

Four anti-government protesters have been sentenced to one to three years in jail for a riot in Din Daeng district of Bangkok last year and three of them have been found guilty of torching police vehicles.

The Criminal Court sentenced Watcharapol Naksuay, Chatupol Boonpul and Nathapol Lekyaem to three years in jail for torching two police vehicles during the rally with about 80 other people on the night of June 11, 2022.

Palapol Jitsuparp was sentenced to one year and four months in jail for resisting police instructions during the same rally. There was no evidence to prove he torched a police vehicle.

The protest by the hard-core Thalu Gas group beneath an elevated expressway section on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road followed a peaceful anti-government rally at the nearby Victory Monument earlier in the day.

The court said the demonstrators violated a ban on gatherings during a period of strict Covid-19 control measures. They were also found guilty of illegal assembly and unrest.

The four men had earlier denied all charges and told the court that they only rode their motorcycles past the protest site. They had been released on bail.

The four plan to appeal their convictions and request bail.

PHUKET: A 50-year-old Australian man fell to his death from a parking building at Phuket international airport on Tuesday night.

His death was reported to police about 8.30pm by a security guard, who said he shouted out to the man not to jump, but he did anyway. The man’s name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

Police sent to scene found the man’s body on the ground in the motorcycle parking area of the airport, Pol Col Salan Tantisartsanakun, chief of Sakhu police station, said.

Security camera recordings showed showed the man arriving at the airport alone. He walked along the road to the parking building and took a lift to the upper floors. He tore up a 500 baht  banknote and a 50 baht note and then jumped from the fifth floor, police said.

Police said the man entered the country on Aug 24 and later left. He re-entered Thailand on Aug 28 and stayed at a hotel in Patong. His belongings were still in the hotel room.

According to police, he had no air ticket to leave the country. He had no criminal record.

His body was sent to Vachira Phuket Hospital for post-mortem examination. The Australian embassy had been notified, police said.

An Australian man, 50, was found dead here, on the ground floor of the Phuket airport parking building, in the motorcycle parking area. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)