According to a joint press statement draft from the Cabinet on Tuesday, Prayut is expected to extend Thailand’s support to establish an eye, ear, nose and throat medical centre in Bhutan by next year as well as discuss the local agricultural marketing scheme “One Gewog One Product”, which parallels Thailand’s iconic One Tambon One Product scheme.

Thailand is Bhutan’s second-top import supplier, accounting for US$24 million (Bt800 million) of Bhutan’s total imports worth $455 million.

During Prayut’s two-day visit he will pay courtesy calls to King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Queen Consort Jetsun Pema, have bilateral discussions with his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay and open a new Thai honorary consulate-general in the capital of Thimphu.

Thailand, one of 52 countries enjoying diplomatic relations with Bhutan, initiated ties with the South Asian country in 1989.

Prayut also said on Tuesday that the visit should highlight Thailand’s strength in maintaining foreign cooperation.

Bhutan and Thailand share cordial relations. The two Kingdoms share deep respect for the institution of monarchy, shared spiritual heritage, proud legacy of sovereign independence and close people to people contact despite the asymmetry of geography, economy and population. Bhutan established formal diplomatic relations with Thailand in 1989.

Former deputy interior minister Supol Fong-ngam and his fellow former Ubon MP Suthichai Charoonnet and former Pheu Thai party-list MP Adisak Phokkulakanont have defected to Palang Pracharat, which plans to nominate Prayut for prime minister in the next general election.

The Cabinet is scheduled to meet in Ubon on July 23 and Amnat Charoen on July 24.

Prayut on Tuesday asked that his every move not be interpreted as politically motivated. He said the Cabinet trek to the Northeast coincided with following up on government development projects there.

“This government has no political aims,” he told reporters at Government House. “Politics is for the people involved in it and I have nothing to do with it.”

The three ex-Pheu Thai stalwarts will lead Palang Pracharat candidates from all of Ubon’s 10 constituencies in greeting Prayut, a source said. Candidates have also defected from the Chart Thai and Chart Pattana parties.

Supol said on Tuesday that he and his colleagues were awaiting a formal invitation to a function welcoming Prayut organised by provincial authorities.

He said the mobile Cabinet meeting would benefit Ubon, bringing more development funds.

He noted there were several projects requiring Cabinet approval. These include a new bridge across the Mekong River, a double-track railway linking Ubon and Nakhon Ratchasima, a warehouse for products traded with Indochina, a four-lane road, a sports centre, and expansion of a state-run hospital.

Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said on Tuesday that the Cabinet Secretariat and the Office of the PM’s Secretary normally decide whether to invite local politicians and bureaucrats to meet the prime minister during his visits.

Anupong said the premier wanted to stay informed about local needs and problems and there was no political motive behind meeting with local politicians.

Nattawut Saikua, a red-shirt leader and Pheu Thai politician, said red-shirt figures in the Northeast had every right to defect to Palang Pracharat.

He was commenting on a report that former Pheu Thai MP Suporn Atthawong, another red-shirt leader in the Northeast, was doing so.

He noted, though, that while many Pheu Thai ex-MPs were leaving, “three or four times” as many political newcomers were interested in joining Pheu Thai.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam disclosed on Monday that he had issued the order to the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) and the Marketing Organisation for Farmers (MOF), before the statute of limitations on the cases expired between July next year and October next year.

“We [the government] are worried about the statute of limitations. Public prosecutors told us that they would need to deal with a lot of cases, so they don’t want to get a big workload coming at once,” he explained.

He has ordered the two state agencies to submit their cases to public prosecutors within December this year, so that they would have sufficient time for filing lawsuits against those accused.

Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said prosecutors would need about six months to look into each case in detail before deciding whether to sue any of the accused.

However, he did not confirm an estimated loss of Bt100 billion to the government in the event of the statute of limitations expiring in these cases.

The deputy PM also maintained that so far, none of the cases had seen its statute of limitations expire.

Many warehouse owners and rice-stock surveyors are accused of involvement in irregularities stemming from the previous government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme, which was implemented between 2011 and 2014.

Rice bought from farmers under the project and stored at different warehouses disappeared, and people involved face criminal charges of theft and embezzlement.

The PWO and MOF are also planning more than 800 civil cases against them, seeking damages that have yet to be determined in exact amounts by the agencies.

Five new election commissioners were endorsed by the NLA last Thursday, and are currently in the process of voting on which of them will be president, before seeking royal endorsement.

Somchai, a former commissioner sacked via absolute power granted under Article 44 of the interim charter, on Sunday took to Facebook and offered advice to his successors.

As the selection of the EC president is expected to be completed within this month, Somchai forewarned that the NLA-endorsed members would be approached by different people, be it from the government or political parties.

He urged the successful candidates to use their discretion and put national interest above everything else.

In response, Pornpetch said on Monday that it was an EC matter and he did not know if anyone would undertake such lobbying.

He also said that while it was common that news would circulate about who would become the next EC chief, he did not think conflict would arise among the newly endorsed EC members about voting on who should the leader.

As a member of the committee that had scrutinised all of the EC candidates, Pornpetch said that their ability to work together as a team had been examined.

Those candidates with a strong ego had received lower scores, he added.

The latest development came amid critics’ concern that the replacement of the EC with all-new members ahead of the general election had been a strategically ploy to ensure the victory of junta-backed parties at next year’s national poll.

The new organic law governing the EC controversially dismissed the serving commissioners and prescribed that the new agency be comprised of seven members.

Two candidates last Thursday, however, failed to win a simple majority to become part of the new EC.

Pornpetch said that another round of selection for these two seats on the electoral agency would kick off once the prime minister had sought royal endorsement for the five successful candidates.

The NLA panel expects the selection of another two candidates to be completed in August, he added.

Given the fact that applications for the posts have been opened for two rounds already and that the qualifications required were relatively high, some have expressed concern that it would be difficult to fill the remaining vacancies.

Pornpetch said the selection committee had not ruled out the possibility that they might proactively approach some potential candidates, rather than relying on the normal application procedure.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the mobile Cabinet meeting in Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen was aimed at hearing opinions from local residents regarding development in their area.

“This has nothing to do with wooing politicians at all,” Wissanu insisted.

He also said that he had not heard of any move to mobilise local residents and politicians to welcome Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

General Prayut, who also heads the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), on Monday refused to answer a Government House reporter’s question as to whether the upcoming Cabinet retreat was politically motivated.

The next mobile Cabinet meeting is scheduled for July 23-24 in Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen.

The meeting’s original venue was the northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Phayao, but the Cabinet decided to move it to the Northeast because local officials in Chiang Rai had worked hard for many days in the operation to rescue the 12 young footballers and their assistant coach trapped in the Tham Luang cave, according to PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool.

Former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, who headed the rescue operation, has now become governor of neighbouring Phayao province.

Kobsak also denied any political motivation for the Cabinet to choose Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen as their mobile meeting’s venue.

He said the allegation linking the retreat with ongoing moves by the pro-Prayut Palang Pracharat Party was “untrue”.

A group of political veterans calling themselves “Sam Mit” (Three Friends) are touring the Northeast to meet with former MPs and local red-shirt leaders.

Critics and fellow politicians from established parties have accused the group of wooing ex-MPs to defect to Palang Pracharat, which plans to nominate Prayut as its prime ministerial candidate in the next general election.

Sam Mit has met with many red-shirt leaders in more than 10 northeastern provinces, according to former Nakhon Ratchasima MP Pirom Polwiset, who is the group’s secretary.

He said Sam Mit was aiming to help bring about reconciliation by reaching out to all political groups involved in the political conflict in the past, particularly the red shirts.

Pirom said supporters of the red-shirt umbrella group United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) formed the majority of people in the Northeast and his group wanted to share views with their leaders.

“We met with UDD leaders in more than 10 provinces and they gave us a warm welcome,” he said.

Sam Mit would hold a meeting with UDD people as soon as the NCPO gives permission, Pirom said, adding that he expected more than 500 red-shirt people to attend that meeting.

The former MP also dismissed an allegation that Sam Mit was wooing former MPs into its fold. “We just ask for their views and thoughts,” he said, adding that his group now has “almost 200 members”.

Core UDD leader Nattawut Saikua on Monday wished the defecting red-shirt leaders good luck.

“We are still friends but politically, we need to part ways now,” he said.

Nattawut added that voters often gave “painful lessons” to politicians who “turned their back on the democratic movement to join a dictatorship”.

Prime Minister Prayut Cha-o-cha handed over the donation to the Japanese ambassador to Thailand, Shiro Sadoshima, at Government House on Monday as a show of support and sympathy from the Thai government.

Devastating floods and landslides have struck the western part of Japan since July 5 following prolonged torrential rain.

The death toll reached 210, with 22 still unaccounted for, including 4,800 who are still staying at evacuation shelters in 14 prefectures.

About 162,000 households are still getting by without running water

“We’re ready to cooperate with whoever has the same ideology and whatever party that shares the same views as us,” Suthep said. “This will give us the ability to reform the country and bring about full democracy.”

His remarks came as parties and politicians, most displaying support for the ruling junta, begin gathering voices with an eye to the election scheduled for next February.

Suthep was speaking at a Bangkok panel discussion on national reform with the focus on decentralising administrative power. Also commenting were academic-turned-politician Anek Laothamatas, political scientist Charas Suwanmala and former Interior Ministry permanent secretary Pongphayom Wasputi.

Observers see the current Constitution setting out a new mechanism likely to hinder any single party from securing a parliamentary majority, but giving emerging parties such as the ACT a chance to gain a scattering of MP seats.

The ACT push for national reforms echoes that of the defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), whose massive protests in Bangkok from late 2013 to mid-2014 led to the downfall of the Yingluck Shinawatra government and triggered the military coup in May 2014.

Post-coup, Suthep set aside his prominent roles behind the PDRC and People’s Democratic Reform Foundation (PDRF), occasionally making pro-junta comments, but in April broke a vow not to return to politics and joined the ACT.

The ACT has said little about its policies or whom it would support as the next prime minister. Suthep said all of this should become clear once an executive board is established and the party is formally registered.

The PDRF organised Sunday’s panel discussion to help the ACT develop ideas.

Charas proposed that the ACT put itself forward as a core campaigner for decentralisation of the bureaucracy.

“Power in Thailand is centralised in national-level politics and bureaucrats and this does not exclude the ruling government,” he said. “This is a vicious cycle and a development trap.”

Provinces should become “special local administrations” similar to the way Bangkok operates, he suggested. Ultimately, local residents should elect their governors directly to four-year terms, ranked on a par with Cabinet ministers and subject to impeachment if found guilty of wrongdoing.

“Decentralisation will help reduce bureaucratic redundancy, especially in terms of the number of officials needed and the budget,” Charas said. “This system would also be more responsive to the specific needs of each province.”

The coup-installed legislature voted 183 with no opposition to pass a budget transfer act to fund the junta’s policies. Bt10 billion would be allocated for the controversial 20-year national strategy. Another Bt2.7 billion would go to a Pracharat fund to give to low-income earners who make less than Bt100,000 a year.

The bill would be forwarded to the Cabinet to seek royal endorsement.

The national strategy passed the NLA earlier this month amid strong criticism that it had been drafted by the post-coup government with limited public participation, while it would have power over government policymaking over the next 20 years. Politicians have also threatened before that they would try to overturn the strategy after the election which had been planned for next year.

The Pracharat policy, meanwhile, is equally controversial. Initiated by the junta, the scheme is viewed widely by critics as no different from the populist policies from previous governments.

The delegation will “see what is being done to organise free and democratic elections in the country”, according to the MEPs’ press release on Friday, adding that several general election dates have been postponed since the military took power in 2014 coup.

The coup was a prime reason why the European Union froze political contacts with the kingdom until last December, when the ties were resumed following the junta’s promise to hold an election by February 2019.

The visit will take place in parallel with a delegation from the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, who will visit the Justice and Labour ministries to assess the possibility of resuming an EU trade dialogue with Thailand.

“Negotiations on an EU-Thailand free-trade agreement would only be possible when a democratic shift has taken place in the country,” the press release added.

An EU delegation to Thai ambassador Pirkka Tapiola earlier said he was optimistic about making a breakthrough in free-trade talks with Thailand within four years, under an elected government.

The six-member delegation from Italy, Malta, Bulgaria, Germany and the United Kingdom will meet the government, NGOs and political parties, including Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

They will also visit Samut Sakhon to observe Thailand’s efforts to address illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The EU is one of Thailand’s major seafood markets.

Vatana was in charge of a planned wastewater treatment plant in Samut Prakan’s Klong Dan district under the Pollution Control Department.

In 2004, the department brought the case to court against Vatana, companies and their executives involved in the Bt23-billion project, accusing them of embezzlement. It had been found that large parts of a 1,900-rai land plot worth Bt1.9 billion used for the project also included a public road, canal and mangrove forest.

Of the original 19 defendants, a lower court dismissed the lawsuit against the project’s winning contractor, NVPSKG joint venture. All the defendants denied the charges.

An arrest warrant was issued for Vatana but he failed to show up for the trial in 2009.

The Supreme Court on Friday slapped prison sentences on seven of the defendants, upholding the verdict by the lower court. Five of them – including Vatana – were each sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. The others are Chalee Chudapa, Prapas Tirasongkran, Chayanat Osatanukroh and Boonsri Pinkhayan.

Two others were sentenced to six years in jail each – Pissanu Chavananun and Roy Israporn Chudapa.

The court ordered Vichitbhan Construction and Gateway Development to pay a fine of Bt12,000 each. Klong Dan Marine and Fishery, and Palm Beach Development were ordered to be fined Bt6,000 each.

The remaining defendants were acquitted, as the court did not find them involved in the wrongdoing and did not benefit from the embezzlement.

The court also issued arrest warrants for two defendants – Siroj Wongsirojkul and Kwok Wa Oyeng from Hong Kong – who failed to show up for the reading of the verdict on Friday.