AN ACADEMIC has voiced concerns over privileges to be granted to foreign investors under the proposed Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) legislation, especially in regard to 99-year land leases.

Somnuck Jongmeewasin, a lecturer at Silpakorn University’s International College, said local people could end up being treated as “second-class citizens”, as there will be many exemptions to Thai law and regulations under the EEC bill.

Earlier last week, Cabinet approved in principle the EEC bill, which will be reviewed by the Council of the State before being considered by the National Legislative Assembly.

Critics have expressed worries over the long 99-year land leases that would be allowed to encourage foreign investors to invest and do business in special economic zones designated under the EEC Bill.

Somnuck said more than 100 Thai laws and regulations would be amended or suspended in order to facilitate foreign investment under the bill so that foreign businesses can enjoy special privileges in Thai territory.

“This will be just like Hong Kong in the colonial era. Thai laws will not be fully enforced within the special economic zones under the EEC Bill and local people could be downgraded to be just second-class citizens,” Somnuck said.

“Under this bill, around 10 laws and more than 100 articles will be waived for the establishment of the EEC and this will eliminate some legal protections in regard to the rights of Thai citizens.”

The government’s plan is to offer up to 631,000 rai (100,960 hectares) of land in the three eastern provinces of Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong to attract foreign investors, with laws and regulations waived in order to extend more privileges to foreign investors.

“If local people are lucky enough not to be driven from their land for special economic zone development, they will find themselves alienated in their own homeland, as all the regulations and resources will only provide benefits for foreign investors,” he said.

The order by the National Council for Peace and Order to waive city planning rules within special economic zones is still in effect, so the EEC committee can choose any land within the three provinces to develop special |economic zones regardless of municipal regulations.

Moreover, under to the EEC |Bill, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) would be conducted by a separate team of specialists focusing exclusively on the EEC, which raises questions about EIA standards.

Aside from the large land grab from local people to accommodate foreign conglomerates, Somnuck said foreign investors would also enjoy privileges such as tax exemptions for banking, renting property and buying residences inside the EEC zones.

“This means that there will be entirely new cities for foreign investors including housing, commercial areas, hospitals and international colleges. They will not only be industrial parks like before,” he said.

“Foreign investors can also trade using foreign currencies directly without having to exchange it into Thai baht within the EEC areas.”

Many have said the EEC Bill will boost the region and country, but Somnuck said the policy was unlikely to lead to true economic development because foreign investors could bring in specialists and experienced workers from other countries. “Not only we will not learn from their technology, foreign investors can also set up in industries that we are good at, such as agricultural processing or tourism, and compete with our businesses,” he said.

The arrests took place at a hotel in Bangkok on Sunday morning, while the suspects were attending a training session in the hotel’s ballroom.

Among those arrested were 60 Thais and 78 foreigners from China, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Most of the foreigners had entered Thailand on tourist visas.

“We have received complaints that training for illegal tour guides was being conducted,” Patrol and Special Operation Division chief Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakphan said on Sunday.

His division and police, including the Tourist Police Division, led dozens of officers in the raid at the hotel.

Participants at the training session, which started on Saturday, told police that they had paid Bt2,000 each to attend the event and had their cell phones taken away during their participation.

“We found that they were being briefed about how to sell products such as facial cleansers, rubber pillows and skincare cream,” Surachai said.

Police are now investigating whether the training was held to teach participants, including foreigners, about how to serve as tour guides and coerce tourists into buying products.

Thai laws bar foreigners from working as tour guides.

Sirikorn Tanachaipornsakul, who organised the training, denied arranging a training session teaching tour-guide services, adding that the event was just a post-Songkran party. However, she admitted promoting some products at the event in the hope of selling them to tourists.

Police said foreigners who had overstayed their visas would face immediate action while those who still had the right to stay would be barred from leaving the country until the investigation is complete.

WITH THE new constitution already in effect, digital journalist of Nation Multimedia Group Suthichai Yoon sat down with Meechai Ruchupan, chair of the Constitution Drafting Commission, for deeper insights.

INCLUDING THE LATEST CONSTITUTION, HOW MANY CHARTERS HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN THE WRITING?

There have been five charters that I have been involved directly as a charter writer. They are the 1978, the 1991, the 2017 Constitutions and two others that were interim. I also had parts in writing of the 1997 and 2007 charters. I did not help write them but I was in the Parliament and I helped checking and correcting. I also countersigned them after the royal endorsement.

WILL THIS BE THE LAST CONSTITUTION OF YOUR LIFE?

I think it should be. This is regardless of its life-span. I don’t think I will be able to do another one. It takes a lot of effort. Every day after work I always have to lay down very still. This is because it is not only the Constitution but also other legislation that is my job. This takes a lot of brainpower.

CAN THE NEW CONSTITUTION GUARANTEE IMPROVEMENT OF POLITICS AND POLITICIANS?

They have to be more careful. If they are not aware of the severe [penalties], it will be a wrong step and they will be barred from politics for life. If one or two people are punished, everyone will be more aware.

This is our intention. This is because some of the actions are inappropriate and truly dangerous for democracy. For instance, vote-buying will be punishable by a lifetime ban on election, instead of just five years. The door to politics would be shut tight and the person could be pronounced dead from politics.

DO YOU THINK THIS CONSTITUTION WILL BE THE LAST FOR THE COUNTRY?

Some said that when His Majesty the King presided over the ceremony to promulgate the Constitution it was the first time in 48 years. I thought to myself that this charter could be around for at least 48 years, too. I take it as a lucky number and think it is how long the charter will last.

HOW INFLUENTIAL WERE YOU IN THE MEETING DURING THE DRAFTING PROCESS? HOW MANY PER CENT CAME FROM YOU?

It would not have been this good if I had done it alone. But this we’ve got many experts from many fields to help contribute. There was only once or twice that I used my right as a senior to conclude something. But I never said that I had more experience and forced them to follow my lead. We never argued aggressively. We reasoned with one another. The only time we had to resort to voting was when we had to decide where we would take our retreat trip.

But I admit the wordings are mine because I was the one typing it for everyone to see in the screens. And we debated until we reached agreement. Also, we had to think about people outside the room, too. We tried to compromise.

In the future, if people will be stronger politically, they can change the systems. I won’t mind.

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT CRITICISM THAT YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PEACE AND ORDER (NCPO)?

No. We have treated the NCPO as everyone else. We sent letters to gather opinions from them. The Constitu-tion Drafting Commission (CDC) members had never seen PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. And the PM also left us alone.

Also, there were no orders from the NCPO, I insist. Even if there were, they would not mean anything. However, in the meeting we have Maj Gen Veera Rojanavas who is close to the PM. He only took notes and reported to the PM. I also told him to report to the PM too, assuring that the charter would be done in time.

IS THE NCPO SATISFIED WITH THE NEW CHARTER?

I heard him say that [Prayut] was not fully satisfied. But I told him that neither was I. This is because we have to consider other people too. It is a charter for everyone. Some people |will lose, some will gain. But at the end, we have to make it possible to be together.

IS IT TRUE THAT THE INTENT OF THE CHARTER IS TO CREATE A MULTI-PARTY GOVERNMENT?

No, that was not our intention. But the number of seats seen now is calculated based on the data they have. But we don’t know [how many seats different parties will win]. We may know the statistics of the last election but the numbers may not apply to the new election method. We opted for this because it cannot be calculated beforehand. Everyone is equal.

Some people are afraid that the NCPO will have power to determine the next government. [But] there has been no sign that the NCPO will form a party. Last year when we were writing, there were absolutely no signs at all. I never thought about the NCPO or took them in the equation because they do not have a political base.

Some people think about having a minor party to be a nominee [for them] and form a government but it would be difficult. It is only possible when both big parties gain less than half of seats in the House. But that is very unlikely.

But if small parties really succeed in forming a government, they will have to take a sleeping pill every night.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO LEGALLY KEEP PUTTING OFF THE ELECTION … LIKE THE ELECTION WILL NEVER COME?

I don’t think so. I heard the PM was counting the day until the election just like me because this [work] is very exhausting. And because the PM is hot-tempered and he works unceasingly, it must be especially exhausting for him. But he is just doing his best. People may think he is working hard because he wants to stay on. But that is not the case.

WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THE ELECTION, LATEST?

Late 2018, if no world war breaks out. I cannot think of other political incidents [that would delay it]. A |delay because of organic laws won’t happen either. I will not ruin my own reputation.

The Centre for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights (CPCR) will hold a press conference today with representatives from Chiang Mai University highlighting what they say is a lack of progress in the inquiry into of the killing of Chaiyapoom Pasae, an 18-year-old ethnic Lahu man.

“From what we know, not just the CCTV footage but the results of forensic tests have not yet been given to police investigator,” CPCR director Sumitchai Hattasan said yesterday.

The press conference at 1pm today at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Social Science, which organised the event along with the university’s Legal Research and Development Centre and the CPCR, will push for a transparent and thorough investigation.

“We hope to send a message that everyone should help ensure police investigators can work independently and transparently,” Sumitchai said, apparently out of fear over interviews given by senior figures in defence of the soldier who pulled the trigger.

Chaiyapoom was shot dead at a military checkpoint in Chiang Dao a month ago. The military claim he was carrying more than 2,800 meth-amphetamine pills and threatened soldiers with a knife and a hand grenade, so he was shot him in “self-defence”.

Cross Culture Foundation lawyer Preeda Nakphew, a supporter of Chaiyapoom pushing for a thorough investigation, said recently there had not been much progress in the case as witnesses were concerned about their safety if they tell the truth.

“I have talked with the witnesses in this case and the family members of Chaiyapoom, and they expressed concerns about their security and worry about threats from military officers if they speak the truth from their side,” Preeda said.

He said he could not identify the witnesses because of security reasons, but all civilian witnesses that he had talked to insist that Chaiyapoom was unarmed and had been beaten before he was shot to death.

However, Chiang Mai Police deputy commander Pol Colonel Mongkol Samparaphon said there had not been any threats against witnesses and authorities could ensure their safety.

Mongkol said police were close to finishing the gathering of evidence for the case, as almost all witnesses had been questioned and the final results of the autopsy had been delivered. “Unfortunately, we cannot disclose the details of our interrogations or the autopsy results, because it would affect the case, but I can assure [the public] that the police have gathered many good pieces of evidence,” he said.

He admitted that police still did not have the surveillance camera footage from the scene, which purportedly shows soldiers conducting a search of Chaiyapoom’s car. “We tried to contact the military twice, asking them to send a copy of the footage to us as evidence in the case, but the military still did not send it and I cannot disclose the reason why they have refused to hand in the footage,” he said.

Preeda said had been trying to gather evidence along with police to find the truth about the incident. “Right now the most important evidence is the CCTV footage that captured the scene at the military checkpoint, which has been kept secret in military hands. We demand that the Army hand it over to the police and disclose it to the public,” he said.

“It is against the principle of human rights to kill anyone like this, so our goal is to find the truth about the case and if the soldiers’ action was too excessive.”

The suspect was identified as Habuesoh Atong, a native of Than To.

The man allegedly stole a black Mitsubishi with a Satun license plate belonging to Weerayut Detnun, who parked the vehicle in Yala’s Muang district on Friday night. When it was reported missing, police and soldiers conducted an emergency search for the vehicle as they believed that it could possibly be used in car bomb attack in the region.

On Saturday, soldiers at a checkpoint in Bannang Sata district spotted a black pickup on the road and asked the driver to stop for a search. However, the driver refused to stop and drove through the checkpoint, prompting authorities to open fire, which forced the driver to abandon the vehicle and escape on foot.

Forensic officials are examining fingerprints collected from the vehicle, which had been stripped of its licence plates and roof rack.

The police investigation then led to Habuesoh’s house on Sunday morning. When he was arrested, he was discovered to have a wound on one ear, which police said was inflicted during the shooting at the checkpoint.

After his arrest, Habuesoh was brought to a military camp in Pattani’s Nong Chik district for further questioning.

The E-Work Permit is a new service provided to migrant workers, aimed at reducing procedures for the issuance of a work permit document.

Labour Minister Sirichai Distakul said on Friday the E-Work Permit will be issued as a smart card, equipped with anti-counterfeit security features, and a QR code which allows officials to quickly scan and access information about the card holders.

The first set of E-Work Permit cards will be handed out by this month at employment centres starting in Tak, Sa Kaeo and Nong Khai provinces.

Eligible workers who hold work permits will also be provided the E-Work Permit once their permit is extended.

“This is part of an ongoing project to sustain and improve our ecosystems and natural environment,” said Suchat Rattanaruengsri of the DMCR.

A total of 30 people, including Prince of Songkla University students and volunteer divers, joined in the initiative. With 800 pieces of coral being planted on each island, the project was undertaken from April 17-20.

As part of the same project, the DMCR added more than 250 pieces of live natural coral to an artificial reef in Koh Mai Thon last month.

“Overall, we aim to plant more than 24,000 pieces. We are happy to be able to report that our progress has been good so far,” Suchat said.