A Bt10,000 reward has been offered for anyone with information leading to the man’s arrest.

Thung Mahamek Police Station said 31-year-old Samran Muangkhiew, or “Ake Lok Nueng”, had been wanted under an arrest warrant since March 15.

Police said Samran was seen leaving the scene where the fire broke out.

The fire, which started in a garbage bin underneath the bridge, caused traffic to come to a standstill on February 28 and resulted in months of repairs.

Police said Samran was the leader of a group of homeless people who cleaned car windows and windscreens for a living at the Henri Dunant and Wireless Road intersections.

Samran has previously been arrested for drug dealing and murder.

People are urged to call Thung Mahamek Police Station on 097-921-8168 or 02-2286-1138 if they see the suspect.

As the constitution would come into effect soon, the timeframe would become more concrete, but it may not be 100 per cent reliable, Wissanu said.

The legacy of the so-called Super Committee or the Por Yor Por would remain effective even after the promulgation of the new charter, he explained.

Two laws on reforms and national strategy could be debated by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) soon, he said.

He assured that all the reforms and strategic plans would be subjected to public opinions and would be revised before being submitted to the King for royal endorsement.

The national strategy would be effective for 20 years but could be revised by future governments, the deputy prime minister stressed.

He also emphasised that the reform and national strategy being pushed currently by the Por Yor Por was prescribed by the interim and the new constitutions, and it was not something conjured out of thin air by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, he said.

Of the more than 6,000 respondents, 73 per cent want to change their job, the survey found.

The main reason cited for doing so is their dissatisfaction with their salary and other remunerations.

Five per cent of respondents said they were interested in working overseas, with the top five destinations of choice being Japan, the United States, Singapore, Australia and South Korea respectively.

For employees looking for a job in Thailand, their top five preferred locations are Bangkok, Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Rayong and Pathum Thani respectively.

Forty per cent of respondents had been looking for a job via job-search websites, while 17.56 per cent searched on the websites of the firms they were interested in joining and 11.73 per cent relied on personal connections.

Almost 8 per cent applied for a job in person.

The announcement by the PM ends a wait of over two decades for the Navy.

Thailand had four submarines in 1937, the first country in Asean to have submarines and only the second in Asia.

Made in Japan, they became damaged over time and were beyond repair. Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, the submarines were discharged in 1951.

Since then, Thailand has never had any submarines. The Thai Navy revived its quest for some submarines to be deployed in the Thai waters, especially in the Gulf of Thailand, in 1995.

Several western countries – Germany, Sweden, France – and Russia were eager to offer new submarines at good prices, but the Navy’s dream was hampered by budget shortage and political problems.

In 2010, the Navy made another try, eyeing six submarines from Germany, though they were second hand. The Navy then readjusted the plan, eyeing one brand new submarine from either Germany or South Korea, but even that bid was suspended.

It was only when the current military government took power in 2014 that the Navy felt itself closer to realising its dream.

The three submarines are Yuan Class S26 T, which have been developed exclusively for Thailand based on China’s Yuan Class Type 039 A.

They would be nearly 78 metres long and 9 metres wide, equipped with the latest technology AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) system, that would allow them to dive consecutively up to 21 days without surfacing. Normal nuclear-based submarines can dive around seven to 10 days.

The deal would cost Thailand Bt3.6 billion.

Sensing the criticism of the Navy’s obsession with acquiring submarines, Prayut urged the public to understand why the country needed the subs, and that too from China.

“The submarines from China are the cheapest with the quality relatively acceptable. It has also offered services after purchase, something extra that we have received. I asked my Deputy Prime Minister Prawit [Wongsuwan], and he is ready for any examination of their worthiness.

“We are not rich, and we don’t have much money to spend [on them]. We cannot build them on our own so we have to buy them from others,” said Prayut.

The move is seen as an attempt to ease locals’ opposition against a plan.

The committee was established under an NCPO order published in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.

The NPCO said it also wanted to listen to the voices of Southerners regarding the issue.

Either Army chief General Chalermchai Sittisart or NCPO secretary general General Noppadon Intapanya will chair the committee, which comprises representatives from various agencies including Region Army Area 4 chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich.

Piyawat said the first public forum would be held in the South on Monday.

Supachai Somcharoen, president of the EC, said the EC believed they should be entitled to remain in their posts until their term ended because they were appointed under the now-defunct 2007 Constitution.

He said the new qualifications for EC members set under the draft constitution, which would challenge the tenures of some commissioners, should be applied only to future commissions.

He said the EC would also discuss with the NLA the appointments of new election inspectors, who the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) devised as a replacement for the EC in the provinces, as well as discuss the status of the EC.

Somchai explained that a relevant organic law should allow the EC to issue an Act to ensure its security and privileges, such as the organic laws for the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Constitutional Court.

He said the EC would also defend its need to take overseas trips after the CDC moved to limit the use of the agency’s budget on the activity. The trips are advantageous to the agency, he added.

EC commissioner Theerawat Theerarot will join Somchai in today’s meeting with a NLA committee led by NLA spokesman Jate Siratharanon.

Somchai said although the CDC had written an organic law foreign to what the EC had proposed, the NLA called the meeting to discuss the matter with the EC because the law would apply to the agency.

He said the EC was willing to abide by the rules regardless of the decision.