Asia (Page 2,804)

The Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) group yesterday unveiled a new bill granting amnesty to all people prosecuted or facing charges in connection with political activities from Sept 19, 2006, until now.

The bill was presented at a seminar, organised by iLaw, in which some sides called on the Pheu Thai-led coalition to support the draft and treat it as a first step towards building reconciliation among all political groups.

Benja Apan, one those facing a criminal case over their involvement in a past political movement, said the bill was aimed at ensuring legal protection for her and other activists which had not existed in the past two decades.

The amnesty proposed in the bill could be divided into two types, said Ms Benja.

The first is an instant amnesty for those who shouldn’t have been prosecuted in the first place, including civilians sentenced by the military court for violating National Council for Peace and Order orders and people facing legal action for violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the Emergency Decree or 2016 referendum law, she said.

All these cases are apparently political and these offenders shouldn’t have been prosecuted, she said.

The other type of amnesty will have to be decided on by a committee as to which of the other criminal cases linked with political violence were actually driven by a political motives, she said.

The committee is proposed to comprise 19 members who are the parliament president, opposition leader, the chief whip, representatives of all political parties and representatives of the people facing legal action since the 2006 military coup, she said.

Speaking at the same seminar, Amorn Amornratananont, a former supporter of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, said he personally supported this amnesty bill because he it has the potential to help all sides overcome past political conflicts.

A bill allowing the government to borrow 500 billion baht to fund its digital money handout is being vetted by the Council of State and will be returned to the government as soon as possible, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.

His assurance came as a fresh petition was lodged seeking to stop the controversial scheme, a key election manifesto pledge of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.

After a number of economists raised concerns over the hefty financial burden the handout scheme will likely create, critics remain doubtful about the legitimacy of the government’s claim that the 500 billion baht in spending is vital for tackling a crisis caused by a deep slump in people’s purchasing power.

“The objective of this scheme isn’t simply to hand out money to people, but to stimulate the economy by augmenting people’s purchasing power, which has been at a low ebb,” said Mr Phumtham.

“While those who have enough money may say the economy isn’t in a crisis, for others, like vendors, the weak buying power of their customers has long been at a critical point,” he said.

If nothing is done to shore things up, the mechanisms designed to spur the country’s economy will become useless, he said.

“Some figures cited by economists to reject the government’s digital wallet scheme might not truly reflect the situation faced by people on the street and the businesses that employ them, he said.

The minister stressed that “real world” input must be taken into consideration.

Support expressed by many in the business sector for the digital wallet is also proof of that, and while some people are opposed, others are waiting for it, he said.

Under the plan, about 50 million Thais would receive 10,000 baht each in digital money to spend on consumer products in certain zones near where they live. Those eligible for the perk include anyone over 16 years old in one of the lower income brackets.

In another development, political activist Srisuwan Janya on Monday submitted a petition asking both the State Audit Office and State Audit Commission to examine the digital wallet scheme’s planned implementation and decide whether it is against the law on state financial and budgetary discipline.

The activist previously petitioned the Ombudsman to seek the Constitutional Court’s ruling on whether the 500-billion-baht loan bill is against Section 140 of the constitution and Section 53 of the 2017 law on state financial and budgetary discipline.

Three similar petitions were also submitted in April and October by other parties. Political activist Sonthiya Sawasdee was the first to petition the Ombudsman over the controversial giveaway on April 28.

Phuket: The Swedish embassy in Thailand has appointed an Honorary Consul in Phuket to boost Thai-Swedish relations on the resort island, and the number of Swedish tourists to Thailand reached 110,000 so far this year.

Phuket’s deputy governor Amnuay Pinsuwan welcomed Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Anna Hammargren and other Swedish officials at City Hall as part of an official Nov 20-21 visit to Phuket.

The event was also attended by representatives from Phuket’s Immigration Office, the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket Office, the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Tourist Association.

Mr Amnuay said Phuket is ready to strengthen ties with Swedish authorities as they have invited people from both public and private sectors to discuss support and collaboration between Phuket and Sweden.

He also welcomed the appointment of the honorary consul in Phuket, believing that the move would play an important part in future Swedish investment, trade and tourism on the island.

The Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation also holds meetings with honorary consuls and agencies in the province twice a month to discuss matters and follow up on issues that need immediate action, said Mr Amnuay.

“About 110,000 Swedish tourists visited Thailand between January and September this year. Phuket City hopes that the island will see more Swedish visitors in the last quarter,” he said.

Apart from being a popular destination for tourists, Mr Amnuay said Phuket has 411 Swedes with long-term residency visas.

“The public and private sectors are ready to provide care for Swedish people. We have Provincial Police, Tourism Police, Immigration Police and agencies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help with this,” he added.

The Swedish embassy marked the opening of its Honorary Consulate at the Phuket Marriott Merlin Beach yesterday.

The government panel studying a referendum on a constitutional amendment will meet on Friday to address potential issues, which include the double-majority requirement that many fear could derail the vote.

Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who heads the government committee, said on Monday it will meet on Friday to discuss input from the sub-committee gauging public opinion on a referendum led by Nikorn Chamnong.

Further details regarding the referendum will be made clear at the meeting, including which parts of the constitution will be amended, how many referendums will be needed, and how much budget will be forked out to organise the public votes, he said.

The deputy premier declined to speculate on the outcome of the upcoming meeting.

However, he said he was confident that the details would be finalised before the year was out and forwarded to the cabinet for consideration in the first quarter of next year.

“I’m hoping we can wrap it up by January next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Nikorn admitted he was concerned by the effect the Referendum Act might have on the amendment process — specifically, Section 13, which requires that two specific conditions be met before the result of a referendum can be considered binding.

First, that over 50% of citizens eligible must have voted and that a majority of those who cast votes must approve it.

He said the double-majority will be difficult to achieve.

Mr Nikorn explained under a simple majority rule, at least 26 million eligible voters must cast their votes for the result of the referendum to be considered binding.

With a double-majority requirement, at least 13 million must have voted to approve the amendment itself for the result to be legally binding.

“This is quite worrisome,” he said.

Mr Nikorn said he would raise his concerns about these requirements at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Pongsathorn Sornpetnarin, a Rayong MP with the main opposition Move Forward Party, also said he agreed that Section 13 of the Referendum Act needs fixing.

The requirement is simply too difficult to put into practice, and if a campaign were launched to keep at least 50% of voters away, the referendum would be doomed, he said.

Mr Pongsathorn, who is deputy chairman of the House committee on political development and public participation, added that 25% should be enough to approve the amendment.