Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will be announcing his government’s policy direction to Parliament on Thursday (July 25.)

The seminar at Lancaster Hotel Bangkok was led by Sompong Amornvivat of Pheu Thai Party, who explained how the government led by Prayut had failed to fix economic problems in the last five years. He also blamed Prayut’s dictatorial style and the continuation of special powers under Article 44 announced by the junta, which had stifled criticism of the government, for eroding foreign investor confidence in Thailand’s political system.

Wan Muhamad Noor Matha of the Prachachart Party dismissed the new Cabinet as “hopeless”. He said Thai people had been waiting for five years to see some changes in the government only to be disappointed by this “not-so-new” Cabinet. He warned that the government will suffer from a trust deficit with the people as many of the Cabinet members had achieved no concrete results in the five years they were in power. “To make things worse, some of the ministers are even tangled in scandals and lawsuits, making their qualifications and integrity highly questionable,” he said.

Pheu Chart Party leader Songkram Kitlertphairoj said one of the monumental failures of the previous government was its inability to tackle economic disparity in the country. He said Thailand was now the country with maximum inequality, with 1 per cent of the richest people owning up to 70 per cent of the country’s wealth. He said the new government will only aggravate the situation, as they had already failed to improve the economy despite having had five years of near-absolute power. Their only solution now is to raise taxes and seek more loans, even though the country is already Bt7 trillion in debt, more than 10 times higher than the debt situation during the 1997 Tom Yum Kung crisis, he said.

Pol General Seripisut Temiyavet of the Seri Ruam Thai Party insisted that the root of all political problems was the 2017 Constitution, which allows the government to appoint 250 senators without going through the election process and also gives them the same rights to vote for prime minister as the members of the House of Representative who are rightfully elected by the people. He said this scheme reeks of corruption so much so that even the Washington Post had dubbed the election result “Thailand’s Faux Democracy”.

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said all Thai citizens today had the obligation to put an end to this crooked regime in order to create a “good political system” and pass it on to the next generation as our proud legacy. He advocated a government that listens to people having opposing ideas and finds ways to solve problems together in peace, not by shutting them out completely. He also said that government investment should be diverted to creating a better transportation system in rural areas rather than building a high-speed railway connecting the three airports.

Dr Niyom Wiwatthanaditkul of the New Economics Party expressed concern that the government’s economic policies to facilitate distribution of wealth to the grassroots may not work and would benefit only a handful of capitalists. He also called for a more thorough study of the psychological impact on patients before legalising medical cannabis.

Lastly, Nikom Boonviset of Thai People Power Party also advocated amendment of the 2017 Constitution, calling it unlawful and undemocratic for senators to be selected by a committee appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order. This resulted in 249 of 250 senators voting for NCPO leader Prayut to be installed as the PM. Furthermore, the law requires 84 senator votes (more than one-third) to amend the constitution, which makes amendment of the 2017 Constitution even more difficult for everyone except the government itself.

Towards the end the seminar, Sompong and Thanathorn, who were the centre of attention, promised that the seven opposition parties would work together to fix the country’s problems by pushing for amendment of the 2017 Constitution and ensure a more transparent and lawful method of selecting the prime minister to create “real democracy” for Thailand.

Meanwhile, Seripisut said that from now on the opposition parties would be monitoring the government and Cabinet members closely, and he would continue to file cases in the Constitutional Court to investigate the qualifications and legitimacy of General Prayut to be elected PM. He would also seek investigation of the impartiality of the Election Commission and will discuss the results on July 25 in Parliament.

However, some medical experts have expressed concern and are urging the government to reconsider this policy, warning that the imprudent promotion of medical cannabis will cause more harm than good to society.

After officially taking over as new Public Health Minister on Thursday, Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the leader of the government’s coalition partner Bhumjaithai Party, announced his vision and plan to push forward the medical cannabis policy. He said the ministry under his leadership will fully promote the use of cannabis for medical purposes with the prime objective of ensuring easy access to cannabinoid medicines for all patients.

Anutin said the ministry would register cannabinoid medicines on the National List of Essential Medicines in order to bring it under the Universal Coverage Scheme.

He also revealed that the government was planning to legalise the planting of cannabis and allowing people to grow up to six cannabis plants at home in order to make it even easier to use cannabis as a household herbal medicine.

“We realise that it is not easy to achieve our ultimate goal of medical cannabis liberalisation, because there are many obstructions from laws and regulations both within our ministry and at related agencies,” he said.

“However, we are still committed to the medical cannabis policy as far as we can by reforming the regulations and management system of our ministry to suit our course and by closely coordinating with all related agencies, especially the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, to let them amend regulations on their side which are hindering the medical cannabis liberalisation efforts.”

Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Sukhum Karnchanapimai said that by next month every hospital under the Public Health Ministry will be ready to prescribe the first batch of standardised cannabinoid medicines to registered patients

Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre Board member Dr Bundit Sornpaisarn, however, warned that the Bhumjaithai medical cannabis policy would give too much freedom for cannabis usage, which could adversely affect society and eventually undermine the stability of the government.

Bundit pointed out that lack of proper controls in this policy to restrict the owning and consumption of cannabis will expose large loopholes for cannabis abuse, especially among the young generation, which could lead to various social problems such as addiction, traffic accidents from driving under the influence of cannabis, health problems, and brain development issues in the youths.

“Though the amendment to the Narcotics Act has already legalised the use of cannabis for medical purposes, the planting and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes remains illegal under the country’s as well as international laws,” he said.

“Therefore, the government needs to come out with stronger cannabis-control measures to discourage the abuse of medical cannabis and prevent them from falling into the hands of people who are not registered patients and into the narcotics black market.”

He also called for intensive regulation of cannabis for medical use, as not every kind of sickness could be cured with cannabinoid medicines. Patients also have to strictly follow medical advice and carefully take the cannabinoid medicines under a doctor’s guidance.

Anutin assured that the government’s cannabis policy was solely for medical research and treatment and not for recreational use.

He agreed that after legalising general cannabis planting, people would have full rights over how to use the cannabis in their homes, but he warned that it would still be illegal to sell or buy cannabis.

“Cannabis is similar to every other thing. It has both pros and cons, so it is up to us to use it wisely and benefit from it or abuse it and suffer the negative consequences,” he said.

There is no concern about litigation because their legal teams, including Thaworn Seniam, the deputy transport minister and a former prosecutor, are ready to resolve this matter.

Recently, the board of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (ETA) had approved extension of the expressway concession agreement with Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc (BEM) for 15 years in exchange for dispute settlements totally Bt59 billion from two  lawsuits.

EXAT is reviewing compliance with the contract conditions or laws. The review process is expected to be completed within 45 days.

Meanwhile, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will have to wait for a court decision if they have to pay damages to Hopewell Co of up to Bt1.2 billion related to the scrapping of a concession.

Saksiam said he had been briefed by SRT officials about progress in the high-speed train project. The CP Group won the bid to connect three airports — Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang airport and U-tapao Rayong-Pattaya airport. According to a recent report, progress in the project is behind schedule and this has raised massive concerns, as it may affect the legal terms of the contract as well as the Eastern Economic Corridor plan. The SRT has already taken action on the matter.

Another urgent policy being pushed is making the Grab taxi service legal. The department of land transport has claimed that they had already discussed this matter. They have accelerated amendment of ministerial regulations to make the Grab taxi service legal. The department is also considering how to deal with or compensate metered taxi drivers if they launch protests.

The new minister said that he had told the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (TOP) to gather all information about the operational status of 23 agencies under the ministry and evaluate the work of each agency on key performance indicators (KPI).

“Every officer must finish my assignment within a month. If their performance does not reach the standard, I may have a word with their chief. The transfer of executives in non-KPI departments is the last thing I will consider. If the officers do not pass the assessment as the executives are going to retire, a transfer won’t be necessary,” he said.

According to the EXAT board report, the authority has two cases under prosecution. The minister wants to end a dispute between EXAT and BEM. To settle the dispute amounting to more than Bt130 billion, BEM will be allowed extension of the concession for the Second Stage Expressway (Sri Rat Expressway) and Bang Pa-in-Pakkret Expressway (Udonratthaya Special Expressway) for 15 years.

BEM plans to invest in the construction and renovation of the second-stage as a double-deck expressway. The construction must pass the EIA review within two years. EXAT will extend the concession for another 15 years after implementation.

Veteran politician Chalerm Yoobamrung said Prayut’s qualifications will be pulled up for debate by Pheu Thai’s new leader Sompong Amornwiwat, adding that the general was not really qualified to become the country’s prime minister as the Constitution prohibits state officials from holding the post.

He pointed out that General Prayut was a state official when he exercised his sovereign powers as junta chief after overthrowing an elected government.

Chalerm also said he expected Prayut’s second administration to be short-lived, adding that he will personally continue questioning the PM’s qualifications publicly even though he is not an MP.

“I will publicly speak about every government-related issue that is wrong,” he said.

Chalerm is one of Pheu Thai’s key figures who did not get elected in the March 24 national vote, as the party did not win an MP seats in the party-list system of mixed-member proportional representation.

The Constitutional Court has accepted a petition from opposition MPs questioning Prayut Chan-o-cha’s qualifications to hold the post of prime minister.

The Court announced its decision on its website, saying the petition had been signed by a total of 110 MPs from various opposition parties but declaring that Prayut was free to continue carrying out his duties as PM until it reached a ruling.

Prayut has 15 days to make his own submissions over the petition.

The Court has also accepted a petition from an individual demanding the dissolution of the Future Forward Party following frequent public comments by its party leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, and its secretary-general, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, against the monarchy.

The two men also have 15 days to submit their rebuttal of the allegation.

He also denied trying to escape legal action, saying he was ready to face all legal battles that have arisen since he joined politics.

“I said last year that I knew I had to fight the dictatorship and I was quite certain I would face legal action,” he said at a press conference on Friday. He also said that his actions cannot be seen as a betrayal of the country.

“For Future Forward Party, the country is its people, not its government. The foreign officials I met want Thai politics to be good again, like it was in the past,” he said.

The tycoon-turned-politician said his trip to Europe had four major objectives: networking, explaining Thailand’s situation, learning about economies and observing urban development.

During his trip to the four European countries, Thanathorn met senior officials and politicians from seven organisations that promote democracy and local media.

He said that whoever he met all expressed concerns about Thailand’s situation.

“I want to see Thailand return to democracy and start respecting international human rights. I want to see the country playing a leading role in Southeast Asia,” he said.

He added that though the post-coup junta, the National Council for Peace and Order, has ceased to exist, its legacy is still alive in the current Constitution.

“If the Constitution is not amended, I believe we will never see the country move towards democracy,” he added.

He also dismissed his critics’ allegations that he had arranged for an interview with the BBC, which was not broadcast through its official channel.

“You cannot buy media outlets of that stature. They are proud of their reputation and carefully choose who they want to interview. It’s impossible to set it up,” he said.

Stilwell was speaking to reporters after he held talks with the Prime Minister’s Secretary-General, Disthat Hotrakit, for half an hour.

Stilwell said he was glad to have a chance to return to Thailand after visiting the Kingdom in 1973 when he was 11.

He said 2019 was an auspicious year for Thailand because the country became the chair of Asean and there was the coronation of His Majesty the King, so he would like to congratulate the Thai people for both events.

He said he believes Thailand would perform its duty as the chair of Asean with efficiency and he was happy to see that the Kingdom was now ruled by a civilian government again.

Stilwell said he discussed the issue of civilian government with Disthat and informed him that the US government looked forward to working with the new Thai administration.

He added that he is happy that Thailand has a chance to hold the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in November and the US would take the event as an opportunity to introduce American companies to potential Asean partners.

Stilwell said he was glad to see that US-Thai relations are moving in the same direction.

He said the US regards Thailand as a strategic partner and he expressed the belief that the bilateral ties of over 200 years – covering security and economic matters – would help the two countries prosper. This in turn would benefit the region.

Stilwell said that he sees the Asean region as a priority target for investment and the US has investments in Asean nations worth more than US$1 trillion.

Asked whether he expected to see any progress from a planned meeting between officials of the US Secretary of State and North Korea’s Foreign Ministry in Thailand later this month, Stilwell said he could not predict the meeting’s results.

Asked whether the US has any concerns regarding the March election in Thailand, Stilwell replied that Washington was happy to have seen the election proceed and that the US is waiting to see whether Thailand will transition to full democracy again.

Pheu Thai MP from Maha Sarakham, Suthin Klungsang, told “Inside Thailand” show on Nation TV 22 channel on Friday morning that the opposition’s goal was not to overthrow the government. “The debate is aimed at providing suggestions for the government to implement policies with maximum benefits to the country and people… If they still cannot implement policies to create public benefits, and on the contrary cause even more damage to the country, throwing the government out would be the last resort,” Suthin said. He added that the opposition was casting its net wide to grill 14 Cabinet members.

“If our aim was to just overthrow the government or seek political gains, we would have set a few specific targets. Since we aim to create benefits for the country, we need to talk about all who have issues.”

The economic points that will be raised includes the current downturn, the people’s living condition — especially the drought ravaging many parts of Thailand — macroeconomics, fiscal matters, the inequity, the international economy and cooperation as well as other countries’ acceptance of Thailand, he said.

Asked if these problems, which had accumulated for years should be brought up to grill the new government that had just taken office, Suthin said it was necessary to bring up past failures and success as lessons for the government to study. “It’s also undeniable that the government of today and the previous government are the same people so their way of thinking and problem-solving ability would be pretty much the same,” Suthin said. “The same economic team, so the same way of thinking. So we want to tell them ‘what you did in the past five years resulted into these issues, so what will you do next?'”

Asked if the government’s economic team would be targeted, Suthin said, “Depending on their work results.”

The political issues to be raised include political reform and the question of Thai politics’ strength and credibility in the eyes of the public, investors and global citizens and whether it would help the government to solve economic problems. “If Thai politics is weak and isn’t credible, it would hamper attempts to solve economic problems,” he said, adding the opposition also wanted to ask about the plan for a national constitutional amendment and whether that plan would help solve economic issues, when that plan would be implemented and how.

“Many people ask why we are targeting individuals when it is the policies that should be at the centre of a debate. I’d say it is inevitable. Policy implementation if done by an illegitimate minister will lead to failure. Parliament rules and laws also allow the scrutiny of individuals. We didn’t just randomly choose a list of these individuals (14 Cabinet members) to grill; we asked Thai citizens about who they think are inappropriate,” he said.

“Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is the primary cause of all these things. We question his legitimacy and qualifications under the Constitution,” Suthin said. Besides, nearly all the other 13 Cabinet members also had their own issues so the opposition has grouped them for grilling such as a group legally entangled in a rebellion case or a forest land encroachment case and a group whose qualification or legitimacy was questioned.

In this regard, the ministry has requested a budget of Bt14 billion for 2020, an increase of 40 per cent from Bt9.1 billion of the previous year.

Speaking at the Culture Ministry in the compound of the Thailand Cultural Centre on Rachadaphisek Road.Ittipol added that he is greatly honoured to have been part of the new cabinet to be endorsed by His Majesty the King.

“I will follow His Majesty the King’s first royal statement and ensure good governance by working in harmony and collaborating to solve problems.

Eleven emergency plans will be announced by the ministry next week,” he added.

He stated that the new cultural policy included promoting Thailand’s cultural identity, which will increase its value and make a great impact on further business development. “The new policy will support creativity and applied technology in cultural knowledge to create innovations and encourage Thai to preserve their culture. The ministry aims to connect past, present, and future and merge Thai ways of life that have an impact on sentimental value and promote good mental health and harmony. Cultural identity helps Thailand stand out in the global community. Thais have a spiritual anchor in the monarchy and in the heritage of Thailand.”

“The ministry of culture will preserve our culture and is already preparing traditional ceremonies to mark His Majesty the King’s birthday and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother’s birthday a will also put on the royal coronation exhibition, which aims to educate and invite people to become part of the history. The ministry is also focusing on religious ceremonies and plans to hold five merit-making ceremonies for the King on which we will collaborate with local institutes and organizations,” the minister said.

Ittipol adds that he will push Thais at all levels to work together in line with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s call for harmony and love between Thai people.

“It will happen if everyone believes in the cabinet who will lead our country to success. We will try to minimise the social gap and age gap to create a harmonized society and use technology to resolve conflicts. We would like to see a positive attitude and devotion of our citizens to our country. This development has to start from a family environment and will lead to cultural studies and an investigation of our roots.

“I will focus on collaboration between organizations. We have traditionally worked with the ministries of Education, Social Development and Human Security, Tourism and Sports and Interior and this will continue. This advantage will play an important role in eliminating similar government projects and lead to lower government expenditure.”

“This policy will also underline the importance of language. Thai people must clearly understand the Thai language. Moreover, they have to understand dialect to accept local customs and minorities in Thailand. Thailand as the head of the ASEAN community has promoted diversity and similarity in the region and this will be a topic in future Asean meetings. This government will finish all the projects started in the previous term, revising our plans so that these are in line with the 20-year master plan strategy.”

They also reminded Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who doubles as defence minister, that he is now leading an elected government, not a post-coup junta.

Pheu Thai MP Paijit Sriworakhan, a Nakhon Phanom representative, said the PM should be open-minded and adjust his attitude towards politicians and members of Parliament.

“This way, both sides can work together for the best interest of the public,” Paijit said, adding that during the debate, opposition MPs will present their opinions and suggestions for improving the policies.

“The prime minister has to listen because he is the leader of an elected government. He can no longer play the role of a top military commander,” Paijit said.

General Prayut was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army when he staged a coup in May 2014 to oust an elected government.

Pheu Thai MP Adisorn Piengket from Khon Kaen also said Prayut should listen to what MPs have to say at the debate instead of cutting them short. “He needs to adjust himself. He is now a prime minister in a democracy, not a government leader who gained his power through a coup,” he said.

He also said that Prayut should attend the weekly House of Representatives meeting to prove his government’s claim that it will adhere to a democratic system.

Meanwhile, a source close to Prayut said the PM is scheduled to meet the MPs of coalition leader Phalang Pracharat Party on July 24.

The meeting, at a yet-to-be-confirmed venue in Bangkok, will take place on the eve of the parliamentary debate on July 25. This get-together is being held so Prayut and Phalang Pracharat MPs can exchange views and get to know one another, the source said.