Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda yesterday said this traditional way of collecting public views was the “best” to gather genuine opinions from people across the country.

He said that other platforms, especially social media, could allow wrongdoers to claim ID numbers of others as to provide “fraudulent opinions”. If people show up at the complaint centres, officials would be able to collect their opinions in writing and their citizen identification numbers for the record, he said.

Despite speculation, he denied that the Interior Ministry’s role in the opinion-gathering process is for the junta’s political purposes.

“I assure you that officials won’t guide or lead people to get particular answers,” he said. “I also can’t order Damrongtham centres to make up information or opinions. We’re only here to gather opinions. If anyone thinks that has a political agenda, I can just let it be.”

Every 10 days, Damrongtham |centres across the country are to submit summaries of received opinions on the four questions to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, according to Anupong.

His ministry should be able to assign the task to provincial governors and start implementing the hearing within a week, he said.

The interior minister, however, refused to say what Prayut would do with the collected answers.

“You’d have to ask the PM for that,” he said.

Prayut yesterday said that the four questions are only meant to stimulate public learning in society.

“They don’t lead to anything. There will certainly be an election because |the law says so,” he said. “But how the election will be is up to you because you’ll choose the government. It has nothing to do with me.”