The two organic bills, on the origin of Senate and the MPs election, have passed all three readings by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) but the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has exercised its constitutional right to object to some provisions.

The charter drafter said some clauses that had been altered by the NLA could be unconstitutional, such as waiving an anti-corruption measure based on the cross-selection of Senators from among 20 professions and allowing parties to use entertainment in election campaigns.

A joint committee has been set up to review the bills. Unless legislators can reach an agreement, the bills could be rejected, prolonging the current rule and delaying the promised election.

But Meechai said yesterday that no one should be concerned about something that had not yet happened.

He said he believed legislators would discuss the matter rationally rather than fight each other. It would only take a day or two to further amend the bills after the bodies come to an agreement, said Meechai.

Eventually if the CDC could prove its points, the NLA could agree, he said.

He was referring to a widely shared photo of the siblings apparently buying chestnuts at a mall in Beijing as the city prepares for Chinese New Year celebrations starting on Friday.

This was the third time that Yingluck has appeared in public since fleeing Thailand in August ahead of a Supreme Court verdict against her for dereliction of duty relating to her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

Thaksin’s youngest daughter, Paetongtarn, also posted two photos of her father on Instagram not long after the Beijing pictures were released on the Matichon website.

Photos of Yingluck in London were published twice on social media.

Suthipong said the Technology Crime Suppression Division would be responsible for tracking down who had distributed the photo.

A SMALL gathering of pro-democracy activists demonstrating over the weekend has caused major concerns for the junta regarding stability, as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed Army Commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart to closely monitor activists and other “politically motivated” groups.

Sources close to Prayut said Chalermchai, who is also secretary-general of the National Council on Peace and Order (NCPO), which staged the 2014 coup, will also have to exercise caution in dealing with activist groups, especially those involving university students, as the situation was sensitive and delicate.

Any legal action against these groups, which have staged political rallies calling for elections this year in defiance of the NCPO’s orders, needed to be carefully weighed to avoid worsening the political climate ahead of the planned general election, which will probably take place early next year, the source said.

Saturday’s peaceful protest at Democracy Monument ended with the surrender of activist leaders, who later walked free on bail.

The groups include those led by student activists Rangsiman Rome and Sirawit Serithiwat as well as activists Ekachai Hongkangwan and Anon Nampa, all of whom had already been charged with violating the junta’s ban on political gatherings of five or more people as well as violating public assembly and sedition laws.

Those charges stemmed from their assembly near Bangkok’s MBK shopping centre on January 27, during which they demanded that the NCPO hold the long-delayed election this year as promised.

At Saturday’s demonstration near Democracy Monument, more than 200 police officers were posted at the scene.

At Pathumwan Police Station, where the four were charged, about 200 people greeted them with a candle vigil, seeking an immediate end to prosecution for peaceful political expression.

The candles were placed in a funeral style on the poster of a clock, in an apparent taunt at Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who has been embroiled in a scandal over his possession of luxury watches.

Another activist, Piyarat Chongthep, who brought a pickup truck equipped with speakers to the Saturday assembly, was fined Bt200 for wrongfully using speakers before being released.

Meanwhile, Rangsiman was brought from the capital late Saturday to Khon Kaen Police Station to face charges in connection with a speech he had delivered at a forum on freedom of expression and the draft Constitution at Khon Kaen University in July 2016.

Police in the Northeastern province of Khon Kaen yesterday arrested Rangsiman and let him out on Bt10,000 bail, which was granted without condition.

His participation in the forum and the content of the speech allegedly broke the law. Police told Rangsiman that he would face military prosecutors on March 23.

Rangsiman was already facing several legal proceedings. Last week he turned himself in to police in Bangkok to face charges related to his participation in a pro-election assembly last month, but was also released on bail.

Rangsiman and three other activists were released on bail at Bt100,000 per person, after they turned themselves in to police on Saturday.

Sources said the government was also closely monitoring other “politically motivated” groups, which allegedly included those led by former politicians and academics hoping to create chaos similar to what happened prior to the student uprising on October 14, 1973, which led to a notorious massacre of dozens.

One of the former politicians associated with Pheu Thai Party, Wattana Muangsuk, is also being watched after he posted on social media that he would join the next rally,

Maj-General Piyapong Klinphun, an NCPO spokesman, said the activists had insisted on holding more activities to push the government to hold the general election by the end of this year despite legal measures taken by authorities.

More importantly, he said, authorities wanted to create a “better understanding” with the public regarding the rescheduling of the general election from late 2018 to early 2019.

The website “CSI LA” provided convincing information that led to public uproar, including photos of Prawit wearing the watches alongside details of the pricey timepieces.

Prawit did not include any of the expensive watches in his financial reports submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. He subsequently claimed that all of them belonged to a wealthy friend, who has since died.

CSI LA, which is based on Facebook, is run by a Thai man who prefers to be known only as David. He has lived in the United States for more than two decades and is now based in Los Angeles.

In a February 1 interview with The Nation co-founder Suthichai Yoon on Facebook Live, David attributed his successful expose to the information he obtained from a pool of reliable online investigators, a technique known as crowdsourcing.

He researched some of Prawit’s watches himself and relied on other online sleuths to provide details – such as brands, models and prices – of the others.

“Those people are watch aficionados, with expertise in different makes like Rolex. They supplied me with photos and details of the watches, but they didn’t want their identities to be unveiled,” he said.

David, who is in his early 40s, explained the abbreviations that form the name of his website. C stands for critical thinking, S for science, I for investigative, and LA for the US city he has called home.

During his interview with Suthichai, he he had previously been an ordinary social media user who often left lengthy comments on different Thai websites.

“I was often kicked out for having a lot of opinions. I wondered why many Thais did not rely on scientific methods in their thinking,” he said.

Later, he started his own Facebook page, CSI LA, capitalising on his expertise as a seasoned data scientist.

He initially made his presence felt when he disputed the police’s theory about two Myanmar migrant workers arrested for allegedly killing two British tourists on Koh Tao in 2014.

He attempted to prove that |the migrants were not the real culprits.

“Police said the two petite Myanmar men were the perpetrators. That’s something many people did not believe. If you look at it with good sense, you will find that it goes against the truth,” David told Suthichai.

He said that in this age of big data, the world was driven by a barrage of information that must be screened through scientific and critical thinking.

‘Need for critical thinking’

“It’s like when you try to drink water coming out of a giant pipe. You need to be able to tell which is poisonous and which is beneficial. This way, you can find water that is [drinkable] and make you survive,” he said.

In his opinion, many Thais lacked critical-thinking skills, and this should be taught in schools so that people could learn from |when they were young.

David was born in Chon Buri and went to high school in Bangkok. When he was 14, he left Thailand to live in New Zealand and then moved to the US at the age of 18.

He studied economics at the University of California’s Los Angeles campus (UCLA) and later graduated from Northwestern University, majoring in data science and predictive analytics.

At first, he ran a jewellery business but later shifted his focus to become a data scientist working for a large telecommunications company.

His passion for investigative reporting and news analysis prompted him to start CSI LA, he told Suthichai.

But David is not free from controversies – he has been accused of running his website with a political motive.

In the past, CSI LA ran posts to counter allegations against the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice-pledging scheme. Irregularities stemming from the project led to prison sentences handed down by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders against the former prime minister and some of her Cabinet members.

However, David dismissed allegations that he was hired to launch attacks on certain figures through his website and challenged any sceptics to prove the claim that he was one of the “red shirts” – a political movement linked to the old power clique.

“I offer a reward of Bt1 million to anyone who can prove that I am a red shirt,” he said.

The talks between the two countries will include further cooperation to end the illegal wildlife trade and strengthen trade and investment relations. Also on the agenda will be the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, Thailand’s return to democracy, and a range of other regional issues.

“Our relationship with Thailand spans a broad range of issues from bilateral trade and investment to regional security and the illegal wildlife trade. I look forward to further strengthening the UK’s relationship with Thailand in the future,” Johnson said in a statement released by the British Embassy in Bangkok on Friday.

The visit to Bangkok is Johnson’s last stop of an Asia tour, after Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Angelino Alfano, Italy’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, on Friday met with Don during his visit to Thailand. Both sides discussed issues such as economic and political cooperation as well as the promotion of people-to-people contact through culture and tourism.

Activist Ekachai Hongkangwan was visited at his house in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district following an arrest warrant issued against him. He faces charges of violating a junta order and the public assembly bill, and sedition.

Charges were pressed against him for joining an assembly on January 27 held near MBK shopping centre, which called on the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to hold the long-delayed election.

He was arrested yesterday hours before his planned attendance at another pro-election assembly near Democracy Monument.

The other three activists – Rangsiman Rome, Sirawit Serithiwat and Anon Nampa – joined in the assembly, even though they were also wanted by police on the same charges.

The three took turns in making an hour-long speech, but had not been arrested by press time last night.

Pol Colonel Phitak Sutthikul, superintendent of Chana Songkhram Police Station, said that more than 300 police officers were deployed to keep the situation in order around the monument compound. “We would need to arrest them as obliged by criminal law,” Phitak said.

On Friday night, less than a day before yesterday afternoon’s assembly, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration surrounded the monument with decorative plants and temporary fences.

Policemen also set up checkpoints to obtain IDs and names of assembly participants, some of whom were reluctant to cooperate.

More than a hundred of people, many of whom appeared to be red-shirt protesters, joined in the assembly that called not only for an election this year but also for the NCPO to “stop prolonging its stay in power”.

“We ultimately want democracy to return to this country,” Rangsiman said in addressing the assembly through a speaker. “We want neither the junta nor free-rider politicians. The junta has taken over the country for almost four years. We people fight, but where are the politicians?

“If you don’t stand with people at this hard time, don’t expect us to cast votes for you in the next election.”

Yesterday’s assembly was intended to kick-start a series of rallies against a decision by junta-appointed legislators last month to postpone promulgation of the MP election bill, which made an election unlikely to happen before February next year.

This was only months after Prayut himself promised that an election would be held by this November – although he later denied that he had said such a thing.

The two-hour assembly contained some shouting from angry participants, but was generally peaceful.

Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch who observed the event, said that peaceful assembly is considered a fundamental right and freedom, and should be allowed by state authorities.

“What causes us concern is the arrest warrants against the activists,” Sunai said. “This reflects a lack of tolerance of political differences from the junta government and the NCPO.”

Sunai noted that the four activists were facing charges under the Criminal Code’s Article 116 on sedition. Conviction on this charge could land them in jail for to up to seven years.

“Suppressing political opinions is not good given the government’s claimed commitment to follow the road map [to democracy],” he added. “To outsiders’ eyes, this could rather be viewed as road map to prolong power.”

“This is not our last day. We will keep fighting together. We hope that today will mark the start of our fight,” activists Rangsiman Rome and Sirawit Serithiwat shouted before getting into the police van.

Before turning themselves in, Rangsiman, Sirawit and Anon Nampa spent two hours making speeches calling for elections this year, an end to “authoritarianism”, and a return to democracy.

They were taken to Samranrat Police Station before being brought to Pathumwan Police Station, which had first sought arrest warrants for them.

No charges are being pressed as of now against participants numbering over a hundred who took part in Saturday’s rally.

The rally was meant to kick-start a series of protests until their demands are met.

The activists spoke from a pickup truck where some participants, who claimed to be former protesters of the whistle-blowing former People’s Democratic Reform Committee also joined, carrying satirical caricatures of Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.

“No matter what ‘colour’, we can unite to fight the junta,” said an activist, Nuttaa Mahattana.

“We act as the government’s opposition, as parliament is now fully under their control,” she said. “We are not afraid of the junta’s orders, which should be regarded as less than the constitution.”

Arrest warrants had earlier been issued for the three activists on charges of sedition, violating the junta’s order banning political gatherings and the public assembly bill.

Activist Ekachai Hongkangwan, also wanted for the same charges, was arrested earlier in the morning.

The charges were pressed against them as they were considered key figures of an earlier pro-election assembly held on January 27, when 39 activists, students and journalists were also arrested.

The photo was published on Matichon Online website on Saturday afternoon.

The two siblings were buying chestnuts in a mall in Beijing as part of Chinese New Year celebrations on February 16, Matichon reported.

Thaksin’s youngest daughter, Paetongtarn, posted two photos of her father on her Instagram not long after the other pictures were released on the Matichon website.

“My dad wishes all Thais a happy Chinese New Year from Beijing in advance. Although we are far away from each other, I always miss you, don’t you know?” Paetongtarn wrote on her Instagram account, @ingshin21, on Saturday.

Yingluck fled the country in late August before a court was due to read its verdict on a negligence of duty case related to her government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme. In September, the court sentenced her to five years in prison.

People arriving in the area were stopped at the police checkpoint and asked to provide their names and IDs. Some of them refused to reveal their identity to the police.

The monument itself has been decked with plants while the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration erected a portable fence on Friday night, seen as an attempt to block the rally.

The manager of a McDonald’s outlet located in the area was asked by police officers to “cooperate” in keeping order, even as participants waited there for the assembly to begin at 4pm. Some of the participants shouted at the police to express their dissatisfaction.

Three activists who are wanted by police for taking part in a pro-election assembly on January 27 have vowed to show up at Saturday’s rally despite knowing that they would be immediately arrested.

Arrest warrants were issued yesterday against Ekachai and three other activists, who all participated in a January 27 assembly that also called for the long-delayed election to be held.

They are charged of allegedly breaking the junta’s ban against political gatherings of five or more people, the public assembly bill and sedition. Being found guilty of the last charge could land them maximum seven-year jail terms.

Thirty-nine activists, students and journalists were charged with joining the January assembly but the other 35 have already reported to police and are currently free.

The four, including Ekachai, asked the police to postpone their reports but their calls were rejected, resulting in arrest warrants to be issued.

Ekachai stood firm that he would deny all charges, as he believed that his actions did not break the law.

The other wanted activists – Rangsiman Rome, Sirawit Serithiwat and Anon Nampa – have declared that the will join the assembly to be held at Democracy Monument on Saturday afternoon despite being pursued.

Democracy Restoration Group, one of key organisers, has told participants to bring food, water, dust masks and roses to the event.

“We don’t have funding to prepare food for everyone,” Rangsiman said. “This is low-scaled event, yet should be made loud enough to address our agenda to call for an election.”

The area around the monument, meanwhile, has been surrounded by decorative plants and portable fences put up by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration on Friday night. It has been suggested that filling up the area around the monument is part of police measures to cope with the assembly.

Police have said they will immediately arrest the three wanted figures once they show up.