South-East Asia (Page 1,991)

The caretaker cabinet on Tuesday approved the cabinet secretariat’s proposal to declare Monday July 31 a special government holiday, creating a six-day vacation period from July 28-Aug 2 to spur tourism.

July 28 is His Majesty the King’s birthday, Aug 1 is Asana Bucha Day and Aug 2 the beginning of Buddhist Lent, all government holidays. The extra day makes it an uninterrupted six day-weekend for government employees.

A spsokesman said it was hoped the long holiday would encourage people to travel, which would boost the overall economy.

Tuesday’s meeting of the eight political parties intent on forming a new government had been cancelled, the Pheu Thai Party informed reporters in a message sent on the LINE app.

The message said the other seven parties in the alliance had been informed of the cancellation.

The Pheu Thai Party initially made an appointment for the eight parties to meet on Tuesday at 2pm at Pheu Thai headquarters. It later changed the time to 3pm and the venue to the parliament building, only to finally cancel it.

Sources said Pheu Thai had apologised to the other parties for the cancellation. It explained that its assigned task of seeking support from parties outside the alliance, and from senators, in a parliamentary vote to select the new prime minister had not made satisfactory progress.

The eight parties include Move Forward, Pheu Thai, Prachachat, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai (Thai Liberal), Fair, Plung Sungkom Mai (New Force) and Peu Thai Rumphlang.

The Move Forward Party has suspended a bodyguard employed for leader Pita Limjaroenrat after it was revealed he is a convicted police imposter and extortionist.

MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Chulanon said on Tuesday that he suspended Sisuriyen Sikamolpakdee following reports on social media the man had previously pretended to be a narcotics suppression officer and abducted a grocer he assaulted and extorted out of about 270,000 baht in cash and valuables.

Mr Sisuriyen was suspended pending further investigation, Mr Chaithawat said.

The bodyguard was initially admired by social media users for his service to Mr Pita during the election camaign. Ony later was his record exposed.

The head of the police team who arrested him was Pol Maj Gen Supisal Pakdinaruenart, former commander of the Crime Suppression Division and presently deputy leader of MFP.

Pol Maj Gen Supisal said he had arrested the man in 2011 after he had threatened the victim, assaulting him and extorting 276,800 baht in cash and other valuables.

The man had been sentenced to 12 years in prison and was released in 2017 after his sentence was commuted. He changed his name several times and was recruited as a bodyguard by a security firm in 2019, the MFP deputy leader said.

Pol Maj Gen Supisal said Mr Pita had not been aware of his bodyguard’s criminal record because he was supplied by the security firm.

The MFP deputy leader said he until recently even thought the bodyguard was a former police officer,  because of his short hair and good personality.

Mr Sisuriyen did not appear to be aggressive and everyone, including former convicts, deserved employment opportunities, Pol Maj Gen Supisal said.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission plans to file charges against former national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda and three other high-level officers in connection with the 2.1 billion baht purchase of biometrics equipment for the Immigration Police Bureau (IPB) in 2019, a police source said.

The NACC will send a letter notifying Pol Gen Chakthip and the other officers of the charges and summons them to testify in their defence before finalising its investigation report, the source said.

The case emerged when Sittra Biabungkerd, secretary-general of the People’s Lawyers Foundation,  petitioned the NACC to investigate the biometrics procurement project after it was found the equipment did not meet the specifications in the terms of reference.

The company contracted to supply the equipment was also unable to deliver it to the Royal Thai Police Office (RTPO) in six consignments within 66 days, by May 2, 2019, as stated in the contract.

Despite these shortcomings, the RTPO agreed to accept the equipment and extended the handover deadline to June 30, 2019  so the supplier did not have to pay a fine of 5 million baht a day.

In addition to Pol Gen Chakthip, the other police officers implicated are Pol Lt Gen Tinapat Phumarin, the then commissioner of the Office of Logistics who approved the purchase, Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang, the then commissioner of the IPB, and Pol Maj Gen Surapong Chaichan, the then deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 7 who extended the deadline in favour of the supplier.

In 2020, Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, a former IPB commissioner who was then an RTPO adviser, was called by the NACC to testify as a witness.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate said then that about 40 other people were also summonsed to testify.

Biometrics is the measurement and statistical analysis of people’s unique physical and behavioral characteristics. The technology is mainly used for identification and access control and to identify individuals under surveillance.

Caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has spoken against a proposal by some allies of the Move Forward Party (MFP) to wait 10 months for an end to senators’ tenure before forming a new government.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Gen Prayut said in response to reporters’ questions about the idea.

He gave his brief answer only after reporters repeated the question a second time when he arrived at Government House on Tuesday morning.

Gen Prayut announced his retirement from politics earlier this month.

The Thai Sang Thai and Fair parties have proposed the eight coalition allies wait for the five-year term of the military-appointed Senate to end in May next year, so the MFP alliance could conveniently have its prime ministerial candidate elected by the House of Representatives alone.

The MFP won the most seats in the May 14 general election, with 151. The Pheu Thai Party came second with 141 MP seats. They are the core of the alliance, which has a 312 majority in the 500 seat elected House.

The current 249 senators (one recently resigned) are entitled to take part in the vote for the new prime minister, together with the elected representatives. The new prime minister needs a majority of the two chambers, at least 375 votes.

On July 13 Mr Pita, the then sole candidate for prime minister, was rejected by the joint sitting, receiving only 324 supporting votes including only 13 from senators, most of whom abstained.

Seri Ruam Thai chief makes position clear

The leader of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, is warning the Move Forward Party (MFP) and other parties in the coalition not to interfere with Pheu Thai’s efforts to garner support for its PM candidate.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth said the MFP and the six other parties in its alliance should let Pheu Thai do the job, saying the priority right now is to ensure the bloc’s candidate has the support required to become Thailand’s next prime minister, not forming a government.

Seri Ruam Thai is one of the eight parties allied with the MFP.

He said when he previously said the MFP has to make sacrifices, he meant the MFP should step aside and let the other parties take charge in the process.

“I didn’t mean the MFP should be an opposition party. If they’re not going to help their friends out, must they also hold their friends back?” he said.

“Step aside and let Pheu Thai have a shot at having its candidate elected as PM. If [Pheu Thai] fails, then it will be on them. Don’t meddle in their efforts,” he said.

“If the people believe Pheu Thai isn’t acting properly, then don’t vote for it in the next election. But it’s wrong to hold demonstrations. That’s too much,” Pol Gen Sereepisuth said.

He was referring to a group of protesters who gathered outside Pheu Thai’s head office on Sunday while the party’s executives were meeting the Palang Pracharath Party.

The protesters demanded Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew honour the promise he made on behalf of Pheu Thai on the day it came together with seven other parties to sign a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work together.

Meanwhile, Chaowarit Kachornpongkirati, a list MP and leader of the Plung Sungkom Mai (Social New Force) Party, which is part of the eight-party bloc, said that since Pheu Thai is now in charge of forming a government, the MoU signed by the eight parties should be annulled to give Pheu Thai the freedom to do so.

He said he will raise the issue at a meeting of the parties on Tuesday.

He also said two other micro-parties — the Thai Teachers for People Party and the New Party — would back a Pheu Thai candidate for prime minister as long as the lese majeste law is left alone.

Ruling sought over Pita rejection

The next prime ministerial vote scheduled for Thursday might be postponed after the Ombudsman decided it should be suspended pending a Constitutional Court ruling on the rejected PM nomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

The Ombudsman on Monday asked the Constitutional Court to order parliament to postpone the next prime ministerial vote and rule on Mr Pita’s rejected renomination.

Pol Lt Col Keerop Kritteeranont, secretary-general of the Office of the Ombudsman, said 17 complaints had been filed objecting to parliament’s resolution rejecting the renomination of Mr Pita for prime minister and declaring it a violation of their constitutional rights.

The complaints came from both members of the public and members of parliament, he said, with some complainants proposing that the court postpone the next parliamentary vote for prime minister pending a ruling by the court.

The Ombudsman has accordingly asked the court to postpone the prime ministerial vote by MPs and senators pending a ruling to prevent any damage that would be difficult to mend in the future, Pol Lt Col Keerop said.

MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulanon said earlier on Monday that the party had petitioned the Ombudsman to ask the Constitutional Court to rule if Mr Pita could be renominated. MFP MP for Nonthaburi Panyarut Nuntapusitanon later confirmed that she and 16 other MFP MPs had jointly filed one of the complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Speaking after the Ombudsman’s move, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said that a team of parliament lawyers had not yet concluded whether the PM vote should be postponed, adding the issue would also be raised at a meeting of the whips of the outgoing government, the opposition and the Senate on Wednesday.

“The outcome of a meeting today of the eight prospective coalition parties will also be taken into account,” Mr Wan said.

Parliament on July 19 rejected the renomination of Mr Pita by a majority vote. His opponents argued that parliamentary regulation 41 bans resubmitting a failed motion during the same session, including Mr Pita’s renomination. Mr Pita’s supporters argued that the Mr Pita’s nomination was not a general motion and should not be subject to regulation 41.

Some 115 law lecturers from 19 institutions on Monday expressed their opposition to parliament’s passing of the resolution on July 19 to block the renomination of Mr Pita.

Senator Seree Suwanpanont on Monday suggested that Section 272 of the constitution be revoked to break the deadlock over the renomination of a PM candidate. Under the constitution, if a joint sitting of parliament fails to select a new premier from party candidate lists, Section 272 would trigger an alternative route.

In such a situation, half of the 750 MPs and senators can initiate a motion to suspend the rule requiring that PM candidates come from party lists, paving the way for an outsider to be selected.

“Such a motion requires the support of two-thirds of all lawmakers, or 500, to suspend the rule, allowing candidates either from the parties’ lists or an outsider to be nominated for a vote,” he said.

Mr Seree said that this means a PM candidate who was earlier rejected could also be renominated only if two-thirds of the lawmakers agree to suspend the rule.

Mr Seree said that Mr Pita could be renominated in this scenario, though the MFP leader now faces questioning over his eligibility due to shareholdings in iTV Plc.

Jarun Pukditanakul, a former Constitutional Court judge, said on Monday that the Constitutional Court has no authority to accept a petition submitted by the Ombudsman asking for a ruling on whether the parliament’s rejection of Mr Pita’s renomination based on regulation 41 is constitutional.

Mr Jarun said that the court can be asked to rule on the draft of a parliamentary regulation that is not enforced yet, but not an already enacted regulation.

Parliament’s regulations are the business of the legislative branch, and the court has no authority to order parliament, the Senate or the House of Representatives to suspend a PM vote as requested by the Ombudsman, he said.