Durian is one of “highlight fruits” at the Fruitpital Fair continuing through Sunday (June 11) in Chanthaburi, which is promoting locally grown fruit and tourism in the area. Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul arranged the durian breakfast for Gen Prayut.

“The scrapping is impossible,” he said as he chaired the mini-Cabinet meeting on public health.

Prayut said the government was just looking into how to integrate the budget in the hands of the Public Health Ministry, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the National Health Security Office (NHSO) towards the same direction in response to the government policies and goals.

At the meeting, the Public Health Ministry’s five-item proposal won approval for implementation within the next 16 months.

“In line with the proposal, the Office of the Prime Minister will have to pass a regulation on the establishment of district-level life quality improvement committees to drive Pracha Rath works,” Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said.

He added that the proposal would have family-medicine clinics set up in urban zones with the budget of Bt150 per head.

“The proposal will also require the NHSO, the Comptroller-General’s Department, and the Social Security Office to adjust their reimbursement process in support of family-medicine clinic operations,” he said.

Piyasakol said the approved proposal also sought to provide extra motivation for doctors in the fields of family medicine, epidemiology, and the emergency medicine.

He added that efforts would also be integrated to develop special health zone strategies.

The representatives submitted a letter addressed to the prime minister via the Public Service Centre at the Permanent Secretariat of the PM’s Office at around 10am on Monday.

Rewat Chobtham, a leader of the group, said the measures by the government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to put the Bangkok streets in order by relocating street vendors to designated areas and markets are too harsh.

Rewat said the measures are not fair to many street vendors because the government and the BMA allow street vendors to continue selling products on Yaowaraj Road in Samphanthawongse district and on Khaosarn Road in Phra Nakhon district on the grounds the two areas are tourist zones.

Rewat said the government should enforce the law with the same standard by allowing street vending in other districts as well.

He said many other areas are also frequented by tourists.

He added that most of the BMA’s designated zones do not have enough customers to buy their goods and foods.

Rewat also noted that migrants could sell on the streets but Thai vendors are being pushed off the streets.

According to an internal document circulated by the Secretariat of Cabinet, Prayut has ordered the Commerce and Foreign ministries and other agencies to prepare information for the visit to the US next month. Dates are yet to be decided.

The information will span trade and investment, solutions to copyright woes and Thailand’s status in the Special 301 Report. The latter is the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR)’s annual report that rates countries based on their protection of intellectual property rights.

Thailand has been put on the report’s “Priority Watch List” since 2007, as one of the countries with “serious intellectual property rights deficiencies”, requiring increased USTR attention.

Cabinet secretary-general Teerapong Wongsiwawilas said Prayut’s order came during the Cabinet meeting and it stressed copyright issues. The PM’s plan to visit Washington follows US President Donald Trump’s introductory phone call in April.

Almost 70 per cent said the election should be held when the country is ready while the other 30 per cent said it should be held as planned in the road map, according to results of the survey released yesterday.

Most respondents also said they believed that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, by posing his four political questions to voters, seemed to signal to the public that the country was stable in the run-up to the upcoming election.

The poll, entitled “The PM’s four questions to a road map to election”, surveyed 1,227 people in all regions of the country.

Of the respondents, 30 per cent said they thought Prayut wanted to highlight national security issues prior to the election. Another 29 per cent said he appeared to imply that the election might not be held according to the road map if the country were not ready for it.

More than 26 per cent thought the PM wanted to say there would be no poll if there was no morality in politics while almost 14 per cent said he wanted to ask politicians if they had reformed their parties and themselves.

Around 61 per cent “very slightly” trust that the new constitution, the so-called “anti-graft charter”, would make the next election free from fraud and pave the way for a government that would provide good governance. Almost 39 per cent, on the other hand, saw high potential in the current charter.

Asked what they were worried about regarding the election, 40 per cent said they were concerned about security issues. Almost 39 per cent said that they worried election canvassers might use unfair means to gain votes for their parties and more than 20 per cent were concerned that the election would not encourage fresh faces to enter politics.

Meanwhile, a Suan Dusit Poll found people felt while politicians should criticise the junta government for some undemocratic practices, they should also propose logical and practical tips for creative outcomes.

The poll, entitled “Criticisms by politicians in the eyes of public”, surveyed 1,152 people nationwide from May 29 to June 2 after politicians lashed out at the prime minister for posing questions to the public that they saw as “degrading” the election and politicians.

The results of the opinion survey were released yesterday.

Asked whether they thought criticism was an important part of democratic practice, more than 82 per cent agreed, reasoning that it was based on the idea of freedom of expression. More than 17 per cent, however, disagreed, arguing that criticisms tended to be partisan and heated up political conflicts.

Asked what people thought of politicians’ criticisms of the Prayut government, almost 76 per cent said they should be perceived discreetly, more than 67 per cent thought that it was acceptable to express political opinions and almost 62 per cent said the criticism could widen public perception of politics.

Asked what form creative criticism should take, 78 per cent said it should be reasonable and practical, more than 74 per cent said criticism should be in public interest and 63 per cent said it should be polite and made in a bipartisan way.

Asked what criticism was not acceptable, 83 per cent said they disapproved of criticism that bred conflict, 71 per cent noted delusional comments and more than 65 per cent disliked rude criticism.

Suthep is the former leader of the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee that staged mass rallies in Bangkok against the Yingluck Shinawatra government prior to the military intervening to take power in May 2014.

Prayut replied briefly in a high pitched voice: “How did such an idea come about?”

Speculation has swirled after Suthep stepped out in firm support of the former Army chief continuing to lead the country after the election.

However, the PM made no further comment. In fact, it was the fourth day since he warned that he would not be speaking to the media for a short period.

The election is coming into sight, as charter drafters submit organic laws to the National Legislative Assembly for enactment, and some concerned individuals have made moves.

Some former senior members of the PDRC have expressed their wish to return to the Democrat Party, which they left prior to joining mass street demonstrations against the Yingluck administration and its contentious amnesty proposal.

Debate about the new government and who will lead the country after the election has surged, especially within the Democrats.

Prayut attended at a Farmers’ Day ceremony and said that the government was sticking to its roadmap, while also asking for cooperation from all sides so that the country can move forward.

He said although his government did not come from an election, it had managed to restore peace to some extent.

If people wished to see the country move forward with peace, they should cooperate with one another, he said.

According to an internal document circulated by the Secretariat of Cabinet, Prayut ordered the Commerce Ministry, Foreign Ministry and other agencies to prepare information for the premier during his visit to the US next month, a date for which has yet to be set.

The information will span bilateral economic, trade and investment dealings, solutions to copyright infringement and Thailand’s status in the Special 301 Report.

The latter is the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR)’s annual report that rates countries based on their protection of intellectual property rights.

Thailand has been put on the report’s “Priority Watch List” since 2007. That refers to countries that have “serious intellectual property rights deficiencies”, which require increased USTR attention.

Secretary-General to the Cabinet Teerapong Wongsiwawilas affirmed that Prayut’s order came during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and stressed copyright issues.

Prayut’s plan to visit Washington follows President Donald Trump’s introductory phone call to him in April, when the American leader invited the Thai premier to the White House.

The phone call was made almost a month after Trump ordered a review of America’s trade deficits, to clamp down on countries that allegedly abuse trade rules. Thailand is one of the 16 targeted countries.

A Government House source said earlier that the US is likely to keep an eye on Thailand in regard to intellectual property, currency management and purchases of military hardware.