“We received reports of the incident in Rawai and went there to investigate further. At the scene, we found the unconscious body of Paul Wilkinson, 55,” said Lt Col Kanan Somrak of Chalong Police.

Rawai rescue workers administered CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] before rushing Wilkinson to Chalong Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Wilkinson’s daughter told us that her father had been in good health. He was working in the garden while she was inside the house,” said Col Kanan.

“He was using garden tools, including scissors, in close proximity to an electric pole and transformer located right next to the wall of his house. This leads us to believe he may have been electrocuted,” he added.

At this stage, officials have not clarified exactly how the incident occurred, but further ‘investigation’ is ongoing.

The victim’s body has been transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital for a postmortem examination, while authorities have yet to reveal if the pole was faulty.

Two weeks ago, a Myanmar couple died by electrocution while working at a resort, also located in Rawai.

Established under Article 44 in January, Por Yor Por covers four committees on strategic administration, long-termed national strategies, national reforms and reconciliation building, to integrate all agendas under one umbrella.

They are all chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and participants include members of the government and private and public sectors, in line with the government’s concept to foster cooperation among the three sectors.

Wissanu said that Por Yor Por and other government operations would continue as usual, but they need to be cautious of new laws and regulations under the new charter.

The Secretary-general to the Cabinet, for instance, will need to adjust the method to forward agendas to the Cabinet, following new fundamental principles of state policy.

With help from soldiers, they moved the Buddha heads to a site where they cleaned and divided them before documenting the details of each head.

More than 100 heads were unearthed after a Tambon monastic monk chief, Phra Mongkon Waropakarn, had requested to lift the floor of the ubosot to prevent possible flooding.

The Fine Arts Department has estimated that the artefacts are priceless so it has asked archaeologists to check the heads and take care of the perfect ones as a priority.

This is because the junta head’s power is specially covered by the new charter’s Article 265, Wissanu explained. Article 265 gives the head of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) powers granted under the post-coup interim charter and will cease once the NCPO steps down.

Consequently, this includes the interim Article 44, granting absolute power to the NCPO head that can order and retain people or perform any acts, whether legislative, executive or judicial.

Since 2014, almost 150 orders have been enacted by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also the junta chief. They range widely from shifting officials, setting up new agencies, to managing the construction of sky train routes.

The absolute nature of Article 44, however, could clash with the 2017 charter’s Article 77. It stipulates that prior to any law drafting process, the authority shall receive opinions from related parties, conduct rounded analyses as well as publicise all outcomes.

But Wissanu said that any law included under the Article 265’s umbrella is excluded from the condition. “ It [Article 44] might even be more powerful than the Article 77,” the deputy said.

Orders enacted under the interim’s Article 44 would also remain in place, the deputy said. If the next government wishes to revoke the orders, it can do so by enacting bills.

“The current government can simply issue a new Article 44 order to revoke the old ones,” he said. “There are some orders considered to be revoked, but I don’t know yet how many of them will be.”

The bureau initially said the tremor that occurred in Tambon Bangnamjued in the district at 6.24pm was not a quake but probably due to land subsidence.

However the office issued confirmed on its website on Friday morning that it had analysed more information from the Meteorological Department and Department of Mineral Resources and concluded that the area had been hit by a minor quake.