With the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) banning gatherings of five or more people, some political clubs started to rely on online platforms to brainstorm on the draft, Pheu Thaiexecutive Chaturon Chaisang said.

Weng Tojirakarn, a key member of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), agreed, saying discussions on the subject have already kicked off on several web boards.

Some groups have also had informal chats on the subject at social events or over dinner, they said.

Both UDD and Pheu Thai have called on the NCPO to drop the ban, saying people should be allowed to openly discuss the draft, but have received no response, they said.

Communicating with the public openly is very important, especially during the referendum, Chaturon noted, adding that it is quite clear that the draft is “problematic to democracy”.

“The government should be open to hear voices from all sides, not just from its supporters, otherwise the referendum will just be a waste of money,” he said.

People’s Democratic Reform Foundation (PDRF) figure Satit Wongnongtaey, however, said the foundation has no trouble following the ban as it believes in adhering to the law. It has no plans to gather comments from its members on the draft, he said, adding that they already shared a common focus on reforms.

Chaturon, Weng and Satit all said they were not planning to get together with other political groups to jointly call on the government to lift the ban on gatherings.

Chaturon reasoned that the NCPO should be aware of the reaction the ban was getting, while Weng said ill-intentioned individuals could use such a move as a means to uproot the charter and pose an obstacle to his group’s moves to fight military rule.

Kasit Piromya, former Democrat MP and National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) member, was the first person to call for the lifting of the ban, saying it would provide room for inclusiveness and participation from political parties and groups on the charter draft and reforms. He said he put this proposal forward in his capacity as NRSA member, not as a Democrat.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said campaigning ahead of the referendum would be allowed, but would not be held too soon. If possible, people should be provided with the pros and cons of the draft so they can decide for themselves whether to vote for or against it.

He said he was not certain if the proposal to hold public debates between politicians and members of the Constitution Drafting Commission was a good idea, as people should spend time studying the heavy content rather than concentrating on heated debates.