The source also told Somchai that the fugitive former premier was also seeking to meet old business and political connections in Japan and planned to call a press conference in late February or early March, after she visits Hong Kong to muster support for her movement.

Yingluck and her brother and fellow fugitive Thaksin have travelled to Tokyo after being seen together in Beijing – a photo of them in the Chinese capital circulated on the social media this week.

Somchai quoted his source as saying Yingluck’s arrival in Japan had made the authorities uncomfortable. She might have received a tourist visa and used either a Cambodia or Montenegro passport.

Unless Thai authorities formally asked Tokyo to take action, nothing would be done, Somchai said.

“I don’t know exactly where she is, but as I talked to my source, we both felt uncomfortable,” he said. “The Thai authorities should expedite their pursuit and the junta should be serious about this.”

Somchai said Yingluck appeared to be trying to build international pressure on Thailand and prompt domestic critics of the military government to cause disturbances now that its popularity is in decline.

Somchai appealed to relevant authorities to keep the public up to date on the pursuit of Yingluck. The last he heard, he was told no progress had been made in efforts to bring her to justice.

“I don’t know what they want from something that has a clear answer. They just want to stir it up again. The government can’t tolerate this,” the premier said during his weekly press briefing.

“People should look after this, especially the guardians of those students,” he went on, referring to the student activists. “They will be in trouble if they are prosecuted. I’m not threatening, but laws are laws and have to treated equally by all sides,”

Prayut was referring to two assemblies held after the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly resolved to delay promulgation of the MP election bill draft by another 90 days.

This will consequently shift the election from November, as promised earlier by Prayut, to February next year.

But the PM said that this was not a breach of his promise, as everything would still follow the so-called roadmap to democracy under the international standard. “It’s not because of me. I didn’t order that [90-day delay]. It just follows the legal mechanism,” he insisted.

This caused anger among pro-democracy activists, who see the NLA’s 90-day decision as part of the junta’s intention to stay in power by prolonging its engagement in politics.

Charges have been pressed against some activists for allegedly breaking the junta’s ban on political gatherings, and also violating the Public Assembly Act.

Those considered key figures among the activists were also charged with sedition.

The charged activists turned themselves in to the police during the past week, since which some have been released without conditions and others have been released on bail.

Prayut, meanwhile, reiterated that the protest group had broken the law and “did not respect the rights of others”.

“They blocked the road, doesn’t that break the law?” he asked rhetorically. “They said we infringed their rights. Didn’t they also infringe the rights of others who did not join their rallies?”

The public is now watching to see whether he will remain “lucky” after he criticised Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon over the luxury-watch scandal during a recent trip to Britain.

Due to the comment, Teerakiat was obliged to hold a press conference at his ministry yesterday to explain that he had already apologised to Prawit and would continue serving in the government.

The general public knew little about Teerakiat before the 2014 coup as he had spent many years in Britain.

Born in 1962, he completed his secondary education at the Watsuthiwararam School and later graduated from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine.

Despite being trained as a doctor, Teerakiat was interested in educational affairs. Nearly 30 years ago, he co-founded the Sathyasai School with Art-Ong Jumsai na Ayudhaya, which has since become a model of ethical and moral development.

Teerakiat then received a scholarship to continue his education in Britain. When he returned to Thailand, he was appointed deputy dean of the Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Medicine.

But Britain beckoned him again when he was offered the post of honorary senior lecturer and consultant in child psychiatry at the Royal Free Hospital, London. While there, he continued to engage with Sathyasai School and conducted research on the influence of school on child development.

Teerakiat later returned to work for the Foundation of Virtuous Youth in Thailand after an invitation from a privy councillor.

Established by Crown Property Bureau’s director, Chirayu Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, the foundation aims to drive educational reform based on the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s concepts, including teachers’ love for their students, students’ love for teachers, the inculcation of sharing kindness and activities that foster unity.

Five months after he returned to Thailand, a coup took place and Education Minister Admiral Narong Pipathanasai invited him to serve as an assistant minister.

In 2015, Teerakiat was promoted to deputy education minister working under Education Minister Dapong Rattanasuwan.

In late 2016, Dapong was named a privy councillor and Teerakiat was named education minister.

While Teerakiat personally knows Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s wife, he denied that personal ties helped him secure a fast promotion.

“I think it’s about luck,” Teerakiat said in a media interview early last year. “Also, I think the prime minister wants someone to ensure consistency and continuity in educational works.”

Weng Tojirakarn, a prominent member of the red-shirt umbrella group the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), claimed red-shirt supporters were always the targets accused of subversion.

His remark came after the police raided a condominium in Nonthaburi on Monday night and reportedly found several bombs linked to red-shirt hardliner Wuttipong “Ko Tee” Kotthammakhun.

Rirkchapol Poolsilp, 53, a Yala resident, was arrested after an M26 grenade, four home-made small bombs, two pipe bombs and 20 large firecrackers were found in a room at Muang Thong Thani Condominium.

Deputy Police Commissioner General Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Rirkchapol had admitted that he was a red-shirt military leader under Wuttipong’s leadership.

Srivara said the arrest had not been staged and Rirkchapol was among 27 red-shirt supporters being monitored by police.

The bombs found in the room were the same type used in the attack at the Ratchaprasong Intersection in 2014, he said.

However, Weng said the police account was highly questionable considering the arrest took place just as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) was under pressure on several fronts.

The junta is under pressure after Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has been widely criticised for allegedly owning dozens of luxury watches and demonstrations were also stepping up calls for an election to be held in November as previously promised.

“Now, everything is just going hard on PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha, so the arrest could have some hidden agenda or could be an attempt to bury the junta’s unfavourable news,” Weng said.

Last November, police also found bombs and military-grade weapons in Chachoengsao province and linked the find with Wuttipong.

Wuttipong has been accused of lese majeste and fled the country after the 2014 coup. Red-shirt supporters have said that he might have been killed following reports that he had been abducted by unidentified men.

Weng has urged the police to provide full details of all arrests involving red-shirt supporters as well as progress on the Chachoengsao case.

EDUCATION MINISTER Teerakiat Jareonsettasin offered an apology to a key junta figure yesterday for criticising the latter’s collection of luxury watches, after a short-lived period during which he appeared to be bravely speaking openly about issues confronting the government.

Teerakiat also said he would not resign from his post and would continue working with the junta government, which also includes Deputy Premier and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.

“I apologised to the deputy prime minister for a breach of etiquette. There is no problem between us, at present or in the future,” he said during a press briefing at Government House.

“I still maintain 100-per-cent trust in the prime minister and this government,” Teerakiat added. “I have to choose the best way to maintain the government’s stability. You just cannot tender your resignation whenever something comes up.

“I’m responsible for continuing to work.”

It was also a “lesson learned” for him when giving official interviews, he added.

However, the minister had considered resigning over the controversy, according to a source from the Education Ministry.

Teerakiat’s press conference was called after BBC Thai published an interview and audio recording on Monday, in which he apparently criticised Thai society in general and Prawit in particular.

While attending a reception at the Thai Embassy in London last Friday, the minister said that if he were shown to be inappropriately in |possession of even a single luxury watch, he would step down from his post.

Although Teerakiat did not mention a name, it was perceived as a direct attack against Prawit, who has been under pressure after being seen wearing at least 25 expensive watches. As a result, the deputy prime minister has been under fire not only for his unusual wealth but also for allegedly concealing his assets.

Prawit did not declare any watches or assets worth more than Bt200,000 when he first joined the government in 2014, but has subsequently told the National Anti-Corruption Commission that he had borrowed the watches from wealthy friends and already returned them.

Teerakiat’s remarks came as a shock to the Cabinet, but members of the public generally expressed support for the education minister.

Earlier yesterday, Teerakiat stood firm on his comment but reiterated that the matter “should not create further conflicts”.

He also admitted that the voice in the recording belonged to him, but said that it had been recorded without his knowledge. Contrary to BBC Thai’s account, Teerakiat said he had raised the point during a one-on-one conversation with a BBC Thai reporter, and not in his speech in front of reception guests.

However, he said he did not plan to take further action against BBC Thai.

Stonewalled

Teerakiat returned from the United Kingdom on Monday and skipped yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, saying he was jet-lagged after his long flight.

After arriving at his office in the morning, the education minister refused to speak with the media, while a person who identified himself as Teerakiat’s secretary said in a phone call that the minister “is not comfortable to speak on the matter and will not talk about it again”.

Teerakiat kept himself shut in his office for the morning before heading to Government House for a private meeting with Prawit and Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The afternoon meeting, which Prayut jokingly said lasted “five minutes and 15 seconds”, was described by Teerakiat as “the PM being really nice, asking what happened. The deputy PM nodded with acceptance though he didn’t say anything. I feel more relieved”.

Prawit also dodged media interviews yesterday, saying briefly: “I have a cough. I can’t talk properly.”

Prayut said his Cabinet was still united while encouraging and forgiving each other. “We have to settle all conflicts,” he said.

Other Cabinet members yesterday declined to comment on the matter. Some simply walked away when asked by reporters for their opinions.

“They [foreign countries] may view this as being political, which is a problem. People have assumed that these kinds of things are all political while, in fact, they are violations of laws,” Prayut said at his weekly press briefing.

His remarks were a clear reference to Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck, who have both received prison sentences in Thailand and lived overseas to avoid serving their time behind bars.

Thaksin, who has faced several completed and ongoing cases, fled the Kingdom in 2008 while his sister vanished last August, before she was convicted in a case stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

Thaksin has since made occasional online comments while Yingluck has kept quiet, with only a few photos of her in London emerging last month.

The first photo of the two together since Yingluck fled emerged on Saturday, showing them out shopping in Beijing.

The junta government has revoked their passports – Thaksin’s in 2015 and Yingluck’s last year – so they have been using undisclosed travel documents.

Prayut also spoke to diplomats at Government House on Monday, when he asked for foreign countries’ cooperation when dealing with “Thai wrongdoers living overseas”.

On the same day he also said to not discuss the matter with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who met with him in Bangkok.

Yesterday, he said the matter was already in the hands of agencies responsible for coordinating such matters between countries.

“However, it will ultimately depend on each country’s decision. Foreign countries cooperated by informing us of where they were, but when we asked them about extradition, they were silent,” Prayut said, while not specifically naming the countries he was referring to.

National Legislative Assembly whip Jet Siratharanont said on Tuesday that the NLA would consider endorsing the establishment of the panel on Thursday.

The Constitution Drafting Commission and the Election Commission have opposing views on the bills in regard to at least five points, but especially over the question of entertainment during election campaigns being allowed under the new MP election bill.

The joint panel will review the two organic laws within 15 days after its establishment, before legislators vote on whether to affirm the NLA-passed bills or amend them in accordance with the panel’s recommendations.

The deadline for the committee to complete its work would be March 1, assuming it is set up this Thursday.

Jet downplayed a rumour that there was an attempt under way to overthrow the bills in order to drag out the process prior to a general election.

The roadmap, he insisted, was still being adhered to and there would not be any “accidents”.

“You just cannot tender your resignation whenever something comes up. I’m responsible for continuing to work,” he said during a press conference at Government House.

On Monday, BBC Thai published an interview with Teerakiat while he was in London in which he said that if he were exposed to be in possession of a luxury watch, he would step down from his post.

In recent months, Prawit has been beset by a scandal after being shown to be in possession of multiple luxury watches.

The remarks came as a shock to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s Cabinet, but members of the public have expressed support for the education minister, raising questions about Prayut’s decision on the matter.

Teerakiat said that he had apologised to Prawit for his lack of etiquette shown in his criticism.

The remarks, quoted in BBC Thai on Monday, came during Teerakiat’s speech to Thai businessmen and students at the Thai Embassy in London last Friday, in which he compared the rule of law and ethical awareness between Thailand and the United Kingdom.

He said Thai people were so “thick skinned” that they would never resign from a position even when they were hit with a scandal, although he did not mention Prawit by name.

He also said he had not been aware that BBC Thai had recorded follow-up questions about the watch scandal.

“I’m still confident in PM Prayut and the government,” he said.

Teerakiat initially skipped a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, but Prayut later ordered a private meeting at Government House.

Prawit previously explained to the National Anti-Corruption Commission that he had been in possession of the watches because he had borrowed them from friends, adding that he had already returned them.

Teerakiat declined to join the weekly Cabinet meeting this morning and kept himself shut in his office at the Education Ministry.

He later left the office and headed to Government House, where it was reported that he would have a private meeting with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

BBC Thai reported that, at a reception at the Thai Embassy in London last Friday, Teerakiat said he would resign if he were found to own luxury wristwatches.

The minister mentioned no names, but the reference was clearly to Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is under fire for being in possession of at least 25 expensive watches.

Teerakiat declined to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting earlier that morning, instead staying in his office at the Education Ministry.

Informed sources said he would speak to reporters after his meeting with the premier.

BBC Thai reported that Teerakiat, at a reception at the Thai Embassy in London last Friday, said he would resign if he were found to own luxury wristwatches.

The minister mentioned no names, but the reference was clearly to Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is under fire for being in possession of at least 25 expensive watches.