The proposed NOC would be supervised by the Department of Defence Energy under jurisdiction of the Defence Ministry in the initial stage, according to an amendment to the Petroleum Act due to be voted on in the NLA this Thursday.

Pridiyathorn said the NOC proposal was included in an amendment to the Act in the second reading, even though there was no such provision in the first reading, which had been approved by the Cabinet for NLA consideration.

As a result, there are irregularities in the NOC plan, which would take over existing responsibilities in the management and bidding process for lucrative petroleum concessions.

At this stage, there is no feasibility study on the pros and cons of setting up a NOC, so it was inappropriate and premature to push for it being set up, Pridiyathorn said.

According to sources, the setting up of a NOC is being pushed by the NLA committee on energy affairs, whose members include former senior |military officers close to the prime |minister.

Pridiyathorn said proponents of the NOC should propose a separate bill to set up such an important agency, instead of including it in an amendment to the Petroleum Act.

Powers could be abused

The Act aims to overhaul the energy sector via various methods to increase public benefits from oil and gas concessions granted by the government. New systems such as Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) will be used along with existing methods.

He said the Thai energy sector had been efficiently managed for several decades by a transparent structure, resulting in sufficient energy sources for national development.

But he said the powers of a new agency responsible for managing oil and gas concessions could be abused.

Pridiyathorn said an Defence Energy Department of the Defence Ministry was in charge of Thai energy affairs about five decades ago and the result was unsatisfactory.

That was before the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) was set up as a state enterprise to take over the Defence Ministry role.

The PTT was later listed on the stock market with the government remaining its majority shareholder with more than 51 per cent of shares.

Following the mysterious illness, Rapeeporn Nasaan, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, remains unconscious and in critical condition at a South Korean hospital.

Kalasin governor Natthaphat Suwanprateep has coordinated with the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Consulate Department to provide initial aid, while locals in Kalasin were trying to raise funds to pay for her return trip.

Rapeeporn’s grandfather Thongon Nongsoda, who is former kamnan of Tambon Nong Waeng in Somdet district, led 10 other relatives to submit the petition and attached documents for deputy provincial governor Mongkol Odthon at the Kalasin Dhamrongntham Centre on Monday.

Thongon said they wanted the centre to contact authorities to help bring Rapeeporn back, as well as provide assistance money to cover her medical bills in South Korea, which were as high as Bt200,000 a day.

Mongkol said the province had initially contacted the South Korean Consulate in Thailand for help and was told that she remained in a critical condition and was placed under close surveillance. He said that anyone wishing to make a donation to help Rapeeporn could contact any Dhamrongtham Centre in their district.

The stateless activist, Chaiyapoom Pasae, was fatally shot on March 17 in Chiang Dao in an extrajudicial killing that soldiers and police have claimed is linked to illicit drug dealing.

Wuttipong Sawanchote, president of the Development Quality of Life Lahu Association, saidyesterday: “Authorities have talked about detecting unusual financial transactions in Chaiyapoom’s bank account. [So], if you have evidence, release it to clear lingering doubts.

“Soldiers have [also] said there is CCTV recordings showing Chaiyapoom resisting a soldier’s operation at a checkpoint. In that case, release the footage to make it clear to the public what have happened.”

He said several locals witnessed the shooting because it happened during the day and close to a community zone.

“Some witnesses saw Chaiyapoom being physically assaulted before being shot,” Wuttipong said.

Wuttipong said it was hard to believe the claim that Chaiyapoom was armed with a knife and a hand grenade when a soldier shot him.

“I think had he been armed, he would very like have already been shot at the checkpoint – not 200 metres away from the spot,” Wuttipong said.

Some witnesses said soldiers quarrelled with Chaiyapoom and threatened to kill him a day before the extrajudicial killing took place, the Lahu group chief said.

Because Chaiyapoom was a role-model student, his death has caught attention from in Thailand and overseas.

National Human Rights Commission member Angkhana Neelapaijit has been to Chaiyapoom’s village to help ensure the protection of witnesses after receiving a report of efforts to intimidate his guardian, Maitree Chamroensuksakul.

Wuttipong said Chaiyapoom was not the first Lahu facing such violence. But he said “I hope he is the last one.”

Meanwhile, Thai Constitution Protection Association’s secretary-general Srisuwan Janya filed a petition with the Office of the Ombudsman against the Third Region Army chief Lt-General Vijak Siribunsop yesterday morning over his alleged inappropriate comment about Chaiyapoom’s death.

Last week, Vijak said he might have shot Chaiyapoom several times if he were a soldier at the checkpoint on March 17.

Srisuwan said Vijak’s comment was a violation of the Defence Ministry’s ethical regulation and a breach of military discipline.

Prawit said Pheu Thai was alone in adopting such a stance. More than 60 other parties as well as the civil society had not said anything in opposition to the current proceedings, he said.

“What can I do if [Pheu Thai] wanted to oppose it?” the minister said.

The officials could do nothing but to proceed, he said.

When the reconciliation plan was first laid out, Pheu Thai had welcomed the move and said that the government was going in the right direction, Prawit said. He was perplexed as to why the party today loudy claimed that the three committees were not legitimate.

Prawit said the committees, responsible for gathering, processing, and forming the opinions into reconciliation proposals, were working in a straightforward way and in line with opinions provided in the forum without manipulating the information, adding he did not know what the Pheu Thai Party wanted.

Nipit Intrasombat, deputy leader of Democrat Party, meanwhile commented on the signing of a “social contract” based on what was shared in all the talks, citing that this was unnecessary because there were no guarantees that their counterparts would commit to it.

But if the majority of the participants, or the Por Yor Por, concluded to do so, he would not disagree, Nipit said.

The politician, however, questioned how the committees would process all the opinions and what conclusion it would bring.

The contract was expected to be formulated in June. Nipit said that was not too soon if the committees had already listened to all opinions from all angles.

PUBLIC FORUMS on the energy situation in the southern region came under fire yesterday from opponents who claim their voices were not being heard and the sessions were just a “one-sided propaganda campaign”.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) held the forums to discuss the power situation in the South at Surat Thani, Krabi and Songkhla. The meetings are an effort to give interested parties a good understanding of energy problems in the region and listen to public opinions.

However, Prasitchai Nu-nuan, a prominent activist from the Save Andaman from Coal Network, said that the hearings did not provide a better understanding of the proposals but were instead just forums for planting biased government information.

“I attended the forum in Krabi. Throughout the morning session, there was only information on the authorities’ side that always emphasised the energy in the South is not enough for the rising power demand and ended up with the conclusion that the best electricity generation choice for the South was only coal,” Prasitchai said.

“Moreover, in the afternoon session, when it was a turn for the public to reflect on the power situation in the South, only registered and chosen people were allowed to speak … so this forum could not represent genuine public voices.”

He said many participants, mostly local community leaders, left the forum after the morning session, as they had a reconciliation meeting to attend.

“This will intensify the conflict over the coal-fired power plant in the local area, as the community leaders only received one side of the information from authorities and did not have a chance to listen to the other side of the truth from the opposition group,” he said.

Songkhla Citizen Network |coordinator Eakachai Issaratha |also said the forum was unjust because the structure was one-sided propaganda.

Eakachai said there had to be more public participation to solve the conflict over energy choices for the South. He said opposition groups have been invited to public forums only to make the meetings seem complete – without really |listening to diverse opinions.

“We want a forum where both sides can discuss the energy problem topic by topic and not just hold a forum and let the project owners conclude the result,” he said.

“We worry at the NCPO’s way of thinking to justify the plan to build coal-fired power plants by using a forum like this, as in the end it will only intensify the conflict in society.”

More than 1,000 people were reported to have attended the forums at Surat Thani, Krabi and Songkhla, held under tight security.

At the events, official agencies discussed the power situation in the Southern Region in the morning, while representatives from the public voiced opinions for 10 minutes each in the afternoon.

Fourth Army Region commander Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanit, who headed the public forum in Krabi, said it would not be used for a conclusion to build a coal-fired power plant. He said the session was held for all sides to give views and discuss opinions, as per the Prime Minister’s intention.

Meanwhile, at the Krabi forum it was reported that the highest power demand for the southern region had reached 2,630 megawatts, due to the hotter climate and growing tourism. This is 5 per cent higher than the previous expectation.

The forum was told that renewable energy such as wind, solar, and biomass were not the answer to the South’s energy stability, as they were not reliable sources of energy and also expensive. Coal was the |preferred way generate electricity, officials said.

The area is chronically congested as vendors intrude on the footpath and road surface and public transport vehicle’s crowd parking spots.

To help resolve the problem municipal officials drew lines for zones to sell goods and parking areas were set up. Vendors were told to move stalls further into the market and to leave at least onemetre of space on the footpath for pedestrians.

Deputy chief Colonel Seubsakul Buarawong said the vendors agreed to cooperate to keep the area tidy.