He urged voters to “go for a change” and help make sure that the country would get a government with good governance after the next general election, tentatively set for February next year.

“If you vote the same way like in the past, you will get the same thing. There must be a change,” said Prayut, who also heads the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

“Don’t let yourselves be bought. You have the right to vote for any person and any party you like. But if you vote for people who give you money, in the future they will try to get the money back. Nobody gives you free stuff. Don’t accept it. Promise me.”

The PM was speaking to a group of some 200 people, including community leaders, who greeted him during his visit to Lop Buri.

He also urged people not to stage street protests after the election.

“The election must lead to peace. Don’t stage protests again,” he said. “This reign must be the most peaceful.”

Prayut also said that Thailand had “wasted” more than 10 years during the political conflicts that had paralysed all the governments. The conflicts had “blocked the country’s arteries” for over a decade, he said.

When the PM asked local residents what help they wanted from his government, they replied they wanted rice subsidies. He responded, however, that subsidies were out of question, as the government was still “repaying the debt of Bt500 billion” from the previous administration’s rice-pledging project.

“We have been repaying the debt over the past four years. Budget was squandered in the past,” he said.

Meanwhile, outgoing Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart said on Friday that the NCPO’s peacekeeping force, which has been in place since the 2014 coup, would see its role reduced following the relaxation of political restrictions later this month.

Police would take over the task of maintaining peace and order, although the NCPO’s peacekeeping force may be used in “certain situations, whenever it is needed”, he said.

General Apirat Kongsompong replaces Chalermchai – who also serves as the NCPO secretary general ex-officio – as the new Army chief on October 1.

Chalermchai said he had no plans to enter politics after his retirement. “I will have more free time for myself after retirement,” he said.

The clock will start ticking in December when all electoral organic laws take effect, and parties are likely to have around 60 days for canvassing if the national election does take place on February 24.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam believes parties will have enough time to campaign for votes. Politicians, however, remain anxious, given that the ban on political activities has not been fully lifted with less than six months left before the poll.

Older parties such as Pheu Thai would have the upper hand in terms of trust and familiarity, former Pheu Thai MP Worachai Hema said, adding that new parties with new faces would need more time to campaign and prove themselves to voters.

“So, I see the junta getting caught in its own trap. They, too, will need some time to gain voters’ trust,” he said. “For Pheu Thai, we don’t worry too much, because the voters know us and know what we can do to solve problems and help them.”

Newly formed Future Forward Party, meanwhile, said the limited time for policy discussions would also impact voters, not just the parties.

Apparently in response to Wissanu’s remark, Future Forward spokesperson Chorika Wanich said 60 days may have been enough time under “old politics”, in which politicians had voters memorise the party and electoral number before entering the polling booth.

But if voters were to also participate in electoral politics, including reflecting on different parties’ policies and understanding them, they would definitely need more than 60 days, Chorika said.

Veteran politician Nikorn Chamnong, a key member of Chartthaipattana Party, said the 60-day period could pose some serious challenges, especially since parties were required to submit their policy plans to the Election Commission for approval before they could start campaigning.

He said he was especially worried about how the EC would approve the policy plans and how long it would take, considering all the tasks the newly selected EC has in hand. He also wondered whether the election commissioners had the required expertise to screen the policies.

“Metaphorically speaking, all new rules are like a road. The new commissioners are like the traffic police. The ride isn’t going to be easy when we are not familiar with all these,” he said.

However, EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma told The Nation yesterday the agency was confident it could perform its duty in line with the timeframe and would not leave the parties in the dark.

“We will have a clear guideline regarding the policy screening. Parties should not have trouble following it. And it shouldn’t be any problem,” he said.

He said parties would have more than 60 days – “plenty of time” – for campaigning before the national vote, which is expected to be held on February 24.

“That’s more than enough,” he said, noting that in the past, parties had often had fewer than 40 days to campaign after an election had been called.

Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said political parties could start preparing for the election as soon as the law on MP elections takes effect, but they would have to wait longer before they started campaigning.

He expected the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to lift its bans on political activities no later than December.

The deputy PM said the law barred Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Cabinet members from contesting the election, although they may become advisers or executives of political parties.

Wissanu said elections for local administrators would be held 90 days after the general election, as agreed by the Election Commission.

“If the general election is held in February 2019, local elections will take place around May 2019,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan on Wednesday dismissed speculation of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle. He said that the prime minister was unlikely to shake up the Cabinet unless ministers resigned.

“I didn’t hear the prime minister say anything about this. It’s just media speculation,” General Prawit told reporters when asked about the matter.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Wednesday put off their appointment with Panthongtae Shinawatra, Kanchanapa Honghern, who is former secretary of Panthongtae’s mother Khunying Pojaman na Pombejra, and Kanchanapa’s husband Wanchai Honghern, because the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had yet to submit its investigation report, said Prayuth Phetkhun, spokesman for the OAG.

He said the DSI was conducting a further investigation “on many issues” involving the case, as recommended by the OAG.

In July, DSI recommended that prosecutors indict Panthongtae, Kanchanapa and Wanchai. The OAG summoned them to show up on Wednesday to hear its decision on the indictment.

The trio are accused of laundering money lent by the state-owned Krungthai Bank to subsidiaries of property developer Krisda Mahanakorn in 2003 and 2004.

At that time, Thaksin was prime minister.

Panthongtae and the two others allegedly received cheques for Bt10 million and Bt26 million tied to the loans.

Their lawyers were informed by the OAG about the postponement on Wednesday.

Prayuth, the agency’s deputy spokesman, said the trio would have to attend in person when summoned for hearing the indictment decision.

On Tuesday, public prosecutors filed a case with the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against Krisda Mahanakorn’s former top executive Vichai Krisdathanon and five other individuals and companies for allegedly colluding in money laundering, in connection with the Krungthai Bank loan scandal.

The OAG spokesman on Wednesday declined to comment whether that case would affect this case against Thaksin’s son and the two others. “It’s too early” to draw such a conclusion, he said.

Panthongtae’s legal team had acted on his behalf, filing complaints seeking “justice” for him and asking for further investigation and more witnesses. Complaints were filed with the Justice Ministry, DSI and OAG.

Natthathida Meewangpla was freed on combined bail of Bt900,000 for the two cases on condition that she does not leave the country unless permitted by a military court. Her two previous bail applications had been rejected.

Also known by her nickname Waen, Natthathida is a key witness in the case involving violent scenes between the state authorities and the 2010 protesters and is accused of being involved in the bombing of the Criminal Court building in 2015 along with three other red-shirt protesters. She was yesterday released on Bt500,000 bail in relation to that charge.

Waen was a volunteer nurse serving during when the crackdown took place in 2010.

She was granted bail in July last year but then re-arrested and accused of lese majeste as soon as she walked out of prison. She had been accused of posting a message that amounted to lese majeste via the chat application Line. The bail for this case was set at Bt400,000.

The treatment against Waen provoked a backlash from red-shirt supporters. Winyat Chartmontri, a pro bono lawyer who has worked on many red-shirt related cases, condemned the police, saying the arrests were unjust and amounted to bullying the defendant.

Yesterday’s trial saw the third prosecution witness, who was a law academic, testifying before the military court behind closed doors. Only lawyers were allowed in the courtroom, while about 30 supporters were ordered to stay outside.

Six more prosecution witnesses are also due to give evidence when the case resumes on October 29.

The former Khon Kaen representative was diagnosed with cancer last November and had been receiving treatment at a hospital.

Suchai was elected to Parliament four times beginning in 2001, under the banner of the Thai Rak Thai, People Power and Pheu Thai parties.

Wan was chosen by the 500 members meeting at the Pattani campus of Prince of Songkhla University on Saturday.

He vowed that the party would not be simply “region-based”, but rather present a genuine alternative for voters.

“We chose the southern border province to introduce our party because we believe Thailand is not just Bangkok but every province,” Wan said.

But the party’s main goal was to bring unity, reconciliation and peace to the strife-torn deep South, he said.

He expressed confidence that the party would win seats in the coming general election.

Areepen Uttarasin and former Football Association of Thailand chief Worawi Makudi were elected as deputy leaders.

Pol General Tawee Sodsong, former secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, who played a leading role in peace talks with southern insurgents during the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, was chosen as the party’s secretary-general.

Tawee said Prachachat would promote a “multicultural society” for the nation and pay attention to minority voices.

Areepen said the party’s membership represented a diverse group of people with different backgrounds in terms of their native lands, cultures, careers and experiences, but who share a strong ideological commitment to promote democratic politics.

“We aim to build ‘Prachachat’ – ‘nation of the people’,” he said.

“‘Nation’ here refers to a society of multiple cultures, where people with different perspectives can live together peacefully and equally.”

Wadah, whose base is in the three southernmost border provinces, began as a faction of the New Aspiration Party co-founded by Wan and veteran Pattani politician Den Tomeena.

The NAP then merged with Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party, which became the Pheu Thai Party, but Wadah’s members defected from Pheu Thai in April.

Other members joined the Matubhum Party formed by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin as premier.

Somsak Thepsutin, one of the three leaders of the influential group, said he expected that all new political parties would be registered within this month and so his group would make a formal announcement of its choice of party.

Somsak said the group would not take a long time for making its decision because the leaders have been sharing their thoughts all along.

Political observers believe the group has been approaching former MPs of various parties to convince them to join the group, which would in turn eventually join the right-wing Palang Pracharat Party that is known to support the junta.

The two other leaders or “friends” among the Sam Mitr trio are Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and former transport minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the legal expert for the government and NCPO, said Prayut has instructed him to compile the list of orders issued under Article 44 of the interim charter.

Wissanu said he has assigned officials to compile the list for him to check.

Wissanu said General Prayut also wanted to upgrade some of the dictats to permanent laws while other orders would have to be annulled before the next elected government took office.

“Only necessary Article 44 orders will be retained. When the country returns to democracy, we’ll see which Article 44 orders can be annulled and we will cancel them before that time,” Wissanu said.

He added that orders that have expired would be left intact.

Its founders said they also hope to win seats in the next election, tentatively expected in February.

About 500 co-founders on Saturday launched the “Prachachat” party at the Pattani campus of Prince of Songkla University.

They were scheduled to vote for their first party leader and other executives in the afternoon.

Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, the key leader of the Wadah is tipped to become the new leader. He is a former House of Representatives speaker and a former transport minister.

Former Football Association of Thailand chief Worawi Makudi is poised to become deputy leader and Pol General Tawee Sodsong, ex-secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, is likely to become party secretary-general.

Areepen Uttarasin, a party founder, said the party was joined and formed by a diverse group of people with different backgrounds in terms of their native lands, cultures, careers and experiences, but who share a strong ideological commitment to promote democratic politics.

“We aim to build ‘Prachachat’ or ‘nation of the people’,” said Areepen. “The ‘nation’ refers to a society of ‘multi-cultures’ where people with different aspects can live together peacefully and equally.”

Wan Muhammad Noor said his party would not be limited to a “region-based” grouping, but rather present a genuine alternative to voters. He is confident his party would win seats in the next general election.

Wadah, whose political support base is in the three southernmost border provinces of Thailand, was a faction within the New Aspiration Party [NAP] and cofounded by Pattani veteran politician Den Tomeena along with Wan Muhammad Noor.

The group later became part of the Pheu Thai Party after NAP was merged into Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party, which was Pheu Thai’s predecessor. They defected from Pheu Thai last April.

Some of the group’s members also joined Matubhum Party, which was formed by former coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.