Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired the opening ceremony of the 35th Asean Summit at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi province.

Prayut recited the lines of the song “The Asean Way”: “Asean we are bonded as one. Looking out to the world.”

The lines reflect Asean’s vision to build closer cooperation among the 10 member countries, and develop partnerships with other regions, he said.

He noted that Asean had been facing many challenges including a slowdown of the global economy, trade tensions, geopolitical conflicts, shake-up of multilateral trading systems, international crime, climate change and rising plastic waste in the oceans.

To meet these challenges, the region needed to make concerted efforts, he said, adding, Asean has pushed for the application of the principles of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), a peace treaty of Southeast Asian countries with countries beyond the region.

The Asean leaders will also meet their counterparts from China, the US, Japan and South Korea.

Asean and partner countries will also push for the conclusion of free trade negotiations under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, he added.

“Areas that are short on funds will need to file for budget disbursement with the Ministry of Interior, which should start accepting registrations around February 2020,” he said.

Paitoon added that the committee president Gen Lertrat Rattanawanich had already discussed the election date with Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda and Department of Local Administration director-general Prayoon Rattanasenee and all the parties had agreed that April was the best choice. The date will be announced later.

“The meeting also the discussed the possibility of holding elections for representatives of Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) and Sub-district Administration Organization (SAO) on the same date, but the motion is still under consideration, as there are concerns it could cause confusion among local voters,” he added.

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Pol Lt Col Waipot Amornrat, Samroeng Prajamrua and Worachai Hema joined nine others previously convicted in being sentenced to four years in prison without suspension for their roles in the 2009 protest storming of the Asean Summit in Pattaya.

The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of two lower courts in jailing 13 red shirts for the violent action at the summit venue, the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, as part of a protest against the then-government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, which resulted in the evacuation of summit delegates and the postponement of the proceedings.

Jatuporn Prompan, a UDD leader who did not participate in the 2009 Pattaya action, was present in the court to show support for his followers.

All other defendants had attended the lower court hearings with the exceptions of Arisman Pongruangrong, Chawanlop Yangtrong and Thanakrit Cha-Aimnoy, who have yet to respond to court summonses.

An estimated 2,000 red shirts broke through police barricades to surround the summit venue and demanded that Abhisit step down as prime minister. The summit was rescheduled for Phuket in June the same year, with tighter security.

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Ex-candidate Nibhon Jamjumrus revealed that as many as 100 members have already resigned, as their attitude and political ideology are at odds with the party’s.

“We were among the founding members at a time when nobody had heard of Future Forward. So when our ideology changes, we need to step away,” Nibhon said.

He denied news reports that the candidates resigned because they did not receive any political positions. “Nobody negotiated for any position. However, we had to put it that way because we wanted to show our leader that keeping a promise is an important matter.”

Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said the members can resign as they have a right to under the constitution. But as the party has about 60,000 members, it will not be affected, Thanathorn said, adding that he is confident the party will still move forward with ease.

The unofficial vote count showed Padomechai with 38,765 votes, Pairattachot Jantharakajorn from Future Forward Party with 28,882 votes and Surachai Anudthato of the Democrat Party with 13,061 votes. The by-election saw a turnout of 90,882 out of 146,497 eligible voters, or 63.33 per cent.

The MP position became vacant after the resignation of Jumpita Chantharakhajorn of the Future Forward Party following a road accident. Jumpita won the March election with 34,164 votes, beating Surachai Anudthato with 18,970 votes, and Phalang Pracharat candidate Rawan Netrphokaew with 18,741 votes, while Padomechai received only 12,279 votes.

After being informed of the unofficial result, Padomechai said he would like to thank the people of Nakhon Pathom for giving him another chance, and that he would do his best to serve the people and not let them down.

Meanwhile, Future Forward Party secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said that the by-election result was unsatisfactory. “There were fewer voters comparing to March election, partly because the election was held on Wednesday instead of weekend,” he said. “This is probably one of the reasons why FFP lost the election.”

Piyabutr added that he believed that his people did the best they could, and thanked the voters who cast their votes for the Future Forward Party.

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The draft bill is expected to come before the full Senate in February.

The lower house approved the Bt3.2-trillion bill on first reading after three days of debate.

The total represents a 6.7-per-cent increase over the previous fiscal year and is a deficit budget due to state spending outstripping tax revenues.

Opposition MPs criticised the government for again attaching high priority to arms purchases, just as the junta-led regime did in the wake of the 2014 coup.

With 486 lawmakers present in the lower house on Saturday, the bill was approved with 251 votes. One MP declined to cast a vote either way but was not counted as an abstention.

All but one of the other MPs abstained. One member of the Future Forward Party voted for the bill.

Many MPs expressed concern that a budgeting delay could have a devastating effect on the economy and create more misery for people already suffering financially.

The ad-hoc committee will deliberate on the bill for second reading.

Somchai Sawangkarn noted that he and his fellow senators have no authority to cut or increase the spending proposed by the government, but can only vote yes or no.

If the Senate rejects the bill, it would be sent back to the lower house. If the lower house confirmed its approval, the bill would become law, likely in February.

Annual budgets usually become legislation in October, but this year’s general election and the tardiness in forming a coalition government resulted in a significant delay.

“This money is part of the Ministry of Defense’s allotted budget and has nothing to do with the central expenditure budget,” he said.

“Our military personnel are patrolling 5,000 kilometers of border both by land and sea,” he said. “It’s a dangerous and important duty and they need modern ships for efficient operations.” The PM further explained that the Ministry’s existing fleet is more than 60 years old and most of the ships require urgent repair or replacement. “All our neighbouring countries have modern ships, and Thailand needs to keep up with the changing world to maintain our negotiating powers, as well as show our potential and capability to protect our resources, especially around naval borders.”

“The Ministry of Defence is trying its best to reduce costs, such as by using smaller ships or even trying to build the ships domestically,” said Prayut. “However, we cannot let up on naval patrol. As you can see from skirmishes with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) foreign fishing boats, we need to protect our people and resources as well as prevent matters that might escalate into bigger conflicts.”

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The two regiments were previously under the jurisdiction of the Royal Thai Army and the Defence Ministry.

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul of the Future Forward party, who went against the majority vote, expressed the view that this approval might be in violation the Constitution and that the protection of the monarchy should be the duty of the Army.

Piyabutr made the remarks at a seminar on Saturday when he spoke on “homeland from the democratic perspective and the role of the people in building the nation”. The seminar was held in response to Apirat’s special seminar on Friday on Thailand’s national security.

During his speech, Apirat had warned that the threat to Thailand from communists was not over. Some former communists had become politicians, and some had become academics but the “communist ideology chips  were still implanted in their heads”, he said.

Apirat also cited threats from information warfare and propaganda and the spread of fake news, which he saw as a collaboration between former communists or foreign-graduated leftists and unethical scholars.

In his speech Piyabutr said that to build the nation, respect for difference of opinion, human dignity, rights and liberty must be promoted and enshrined. National security is equal to people security, he said.

Piyabutr disagreed with the Army chief’s argument that Section 1 of the Constitution could not be amended as that could affect national security.

Section 1 states that Thailand is one indivisible Kingdom.

On Friday, Apirat had voiced strong opposition to proposals to amend the Constitution’s Section 1.

Apirat’s comments were in response to a campaign launched by Opposition leaders, academics and civil groups to amend the junta-sponsored charter, which they say is undemocratic.

Apirat said the proposal to amend Section 1 would adversely affect other sections, especially the one on the monarchy.

Piyabutr said that the section could be amended but the amendment must not lead to the change of the current regime of constitutional monarchy with the King as the head of state.

He cited Section 255 of the 2017 Constitution, which bans the amendment of the charter that will lead to a change in a democratic regime with the King as the head of the state.

He added that the Opposition had mentioned many times that it wanted to see the creation of a new charter written by a new charter drafting assembly elected by the people. The Opposition also will not touch Chapters 1 and 2 of the charter.

“Any section of the Constitution can be amended but changing Section 1 should not be allowed because it concerns national security,” he told the seminar, which was attended by representatives of many organisations, local and foreign press, students and celebrities. Section 1 states that Thailand is one and  indivisible Kingdom.

Apirat’s comments was in response to a campaign launched by Opposition leaders, academics and civil groups to amend the junta-sponsored charter, which they say is undemocratic. The Army recently filed sedition charges against 12 people, including leaders of seven opposition parties and academics, after they held a forum on solutions for southern border provinces and to discuss amendments to the Constitution.

At the forum in Pattani on September 28, Chalita Bandhuwong, a lecturer at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, criticised the military’s role in the South, saying the Army was overstepping its boundaries by controlling both military and police operations on security issues, promoting local social and cultural activities as well as supporting the living standards of the local people. She also said it was not necessary for the country to be a centralised state and suggested that Section 1 of the charter be changed accordingly.

However, it is still not clear if the Opposition, academics and civil groups have reached a consensus on which sections of the Constitution should be amended, as they have just kicked off the campaign.

Apirat, meanwhile, said the proposal to amend Section 1 would adversely affect other sections, especially the one on the monarchy. “The academics are smart, and they have chosen not to talk about it directly,” he said in a tone implying that the academics have hidden motives.

In response, Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of Political Science at the Ubon Ratchathani University, said the Army chief was exaggerating the point and acting as if the military owns the Constitution and the country.

“Section 1 is not related to the monarchy, and every political party has made it clear that they support a democracy with the King as head of the Kingdom,” he said referring to Section 2, which states that “Thailand is a democratic regime of government with the King as head of state”.

Titipol also suggested that Apirat was using tactics allowing the military to make political gains by exaggerating the idea of amending Section 1 and accused him of acting against the principles of freedom of expression guaranteed to the people by the Constitution. He said people should be allowed to voice their opinions constructively about the amendment of the charter, adding that the military does not own the Constitution or the country.

He also said that putting everything down to national security is not enough, they should also consider security from other dimensions, such as the people’s economic well-being and the protection of their rights.

“If Section 1 is amended, it may allow greater autonomy to the people in the deep South [it will not mean Thailand losing land],” he said, in reference to ideas proposed to end the prolonged conflict in the South, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives since 2004.

He also said that the Army and the government do not want to amend the charter because it allows the military to stay in power after the military-led coup in 2014. However, the Opposition wants to remove the authority granted to appointed senators, who selected the prime minister. Under the current charter, these senators have a five-year term so they can also choose the next premier once this administration’s four-year term ends.

“This charter largely protects the interests of the political establishment at the expense of the people,” he said.