THE RECONCILIATION preparation committee is ready to start its reconciliation effort with its assisting panels set to commence their assignments by engaging political parties in the sharing of ideas on conflict resolution, said Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who supervised the committee’s first meeting yesterday.

Eleven reference issues to help frame the discussion were tabled and endorsed at the meeting.

The gathering of opinions and the “agreement of truth” draft are expected to be completed in April, the deputy PM said.

The agreement will be the “social contract” that all conflicting parties must abide by regardless of its legal bindingness, Prawit said. It is unclear whether the parties will have to sign the contract, but the deputy PM has said that they will be bound by social pressure.

The four assisting panels met for the first time yesterday at the Defence Ministry. The four panels are opinion gathering, integration, implementation planning, and public relations.

At the meeting, Prawit appointed as the respective heads of the panels defence permanent secretary General Chaichan Changmonkol, Supreme Commander General Surapong Suwana-adth, Commander-in- Chief General Chalermchai Sithisart, and defence ministry spokesman Maj-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich.

Besides the high-ranking military officers, each of the assisting panels has at least nine experts included. The initial list shown yesterday includes prominent academics such as the rector of Thammasat University, Somkit Lertpaithoon, Chulalongkorn University-based political scientist and economist Supachai Yavapraphas, Trakool Meechai, and Pasuk Phongpaichit.

Prawit said that the conflicting parties invited to provide opinions for the reconciliation agreement would have some degree of freedom to voice any concerns so long as they were not against the constitution and had the potential to lead to unrest.

‘No coup’

Asked whether the agreement would prohibit another coup, Prawit, a key man in the junta-formed National Council for Peace and Order, said that the Army’s officers had no inclination to stage another coup.

He defended the 2014 power seizure, saying it took place because the public demanded the action and could have resulted in senior officers being put on death row.

Maj-General Kongcheep laid out the details of the reconciliation assisting panels. He said the 11 reference issues were designed to help the conflicting parties find a common ground, deliver conflict resolution, and move the country forward. The topics include politics, inequality, law and justice, differences, and national strategy.

The first steps of the process begin on Tuesday, with the political parties invited to a roundtable meeting, Kongcheep said, adding that discussions would take place every weekday after that date until the process was completed.

Aside from the key players at the national level, such as political parties or political groups, a parallel opinion-gathering effort will be carried out at the provincial level, the spokesman said.

That effort will be spearheaded by regional commanders, senior police and provincial governors, Kongcheep said.

Kongcheep stressed that the government was sincere about achieving reconciliation and hoped that every party would cooperate so that was achieved.

The Trump administration’s tough policy stance has affected many immigrants in the United States, including Thais, some of whom have worked without the proper documentation.

Those messages were conveyed during a Facebook Live session conducted by Suthichai Yoon, digital journalist with the Nation Multimedia Group, with Thais living in the US to assess the impacts of Trump’s policy, which has been criticised as trying to send home as many immigrants as possible – if not all of them.

The US president has issued an executive order banning travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days and refugees for 120 days, excepting refugees from Syria, whom he would ban indefinitely.

Although Thais living in the US are not the target of the order, they are already being affected by the intensification of the immigration laws, a Thai restaurant owner identified as “Thip”, a US citizen by marriage, told Suthichai during an interview. Under the Barack Obama administration, immigration rules appeared to be relaxing, enabling Thais working without proper visas to enjoy loopholes by working in many businesses, particularly restaurants.

Thip said that her friends who ran restaurants in the US had informed her that they had already been affected by the policy, as staff without proper documentation had stopped coming to work because they were afraid of being caught and deported.

“Some of them are students who worked to earn income to live and for their families back home. Now they dare not work, so they are financially cut off. I feel pity for them as they came here to work because they are short of money. If they were wealthy, they would not have come,” she said.

The Trump policy has also made restaurant owners concerned about their own self interest, Thip said, as many had to stop hiring Thais who did not have proper work visas.

“Their selfishness is understood as their businesses would certainly be affected or shut down if immigration officials found out that they had hired staff without proper visas.”

Many Thais now want to move to Canada, where the government has opened its arms to foreigners including US citizens. However, Thip said Canada welcomed only US citizens, not people who held US green cards.

She recounted how her friend who lived in Florida had said that police had enforced immigration laws more intensively by setting up more checkpoints. Authorities reportedly would not listen to any explanation from people lacking the proper identification, who were immediately deported.

Customers at Thip’s restaurant, both Thais and Americans, have voiced disagreement with Trump’s immigration policies with some expressing doubts whether they could survive four years under the Trump government.

Suthichai and Thip pointed out that Trump and his family had been ridiculed on television shows, most prominently in high-profile Saturday Night Live skits.

Thip said she strongly recommended that Thais already in the US should work and save as much money as possible, but then go home. People who do not have a work visa should return immediately because if they are caught and deported, they would be blacklisted from re-entering the country, she added.

“And those who plan to come to the US either for work or study should think twice and wait until this government finishes its tenure or cancel their plans.”

Suthichai also read a comment from Facebook user Krissadapong from Miami who said 70 Thais had been arrested in recent raids in that city as a result of the intensified enforcement of immigration laws.

Trump’s foreign policy has been so confusing, going back and forth on different policy points, that even US diplomats have found it difficult to understand, Suthichai said, recalling talking to a US diplomat on a recent flight in a discussion that highlighted the uncertainty haunting US foreign policy.

Prawit panel expects aviation red flag removed by year’s end

The Indo-Pacific region, covering the area from the Middle East to the East Asia, has been targeted by superpowers – the United States, China, Russia and India – because of its large economy, abundant sea lanes and rich resources, he said.

Thailand’s positioning of itself in such an atmosphere was important because a wrong move could have negative consequences, Panitan said in his opening remarks at a discussion titled “Roles of the Superpowers that Impact Thailand’s Strategy Implementation” at the Royal Thai Army War College yesterday.

While the country has tried to remain friendly with all parties, Panitan said it could be forced to take sides. The Thai-US military exercise, or “Cobra Gold”, which is currently taking place, has made China uncomfortable, he said. On the other hand, the US felt uneasy when Thailand agreed to purchase submarines from China.

Both situations have put the country in an awkward position, he said.

With Donald Trump as the new US president, Panitan said Washington was seeking to address its trade deficits, especially with China, causing greater tension between the two.

The major issues to follow could involve the South China Sea dispute as well as international trade, Panitan said, adding that it was crucial that Thailand find the right approach should an armed conflict break out in the disputed area.

The office reported that the appointment was aimed at raising the profile of and increasing support for development efforts that address the impact of crime on society, contributing to judicial reform. Princess Bajrakitiyabha has supported UNODC efforts in the region over the years, increasing visibility and mobilising partnerships, including most recently promoting the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda.

Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific of the UNODC, and Kittipong Kittayarak, executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice, would make the official announcement of the appointment next week at the UN headquarters in Bangkok.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha has served as Thailand’s ambassador to the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and was appointed UN Women’s Nat-ional Ambassador to Thailand in 2008.