In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Prinya discussed the implications of order 53/2560, which on the surface reschedules the administrative work that parties must undertake prior to the next election – but in reality has massive implications for the party system and democracy in Thailand.

Regardless of the words contained in the order, the real effect of the dictat is to put additional burdens on the older parties while creating an advantage for new parties, said Prinya.

The larger the number of members that a party has, the greater the burden they face in meeting the new requirements, he said. And if they were unable to re-register their members before the deadline, the party could find itself being reset. “The order says new parties will not be at a disadvantage, but in fact they will be at an advantage,” said Prinya.

Junta chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha in mid-December issued an Article 44 order aimed at extending some deadlines for political party administrative work that were outlined in the Political Party Act that came into effect in early October.

The Act was not implemented, and parties claimed that this was because the junta had not lifted its ban on political activities. Political parties now have raised concerns over the short period of time given to them to follow stipulations in the order, and fear that they could lose many of their current members.

The order gives current party members only one month to decide whether they will stay with that party or review their political allegiances. Those wishing to maintain their party memberships must personally take action to submit letters confirming that choice to party leaders and pay their membership fees between April 1 and April 30, or they will lose their member status. Political party leaders have said it would be too difficult to organise for all their members to submit their letters in time.

The junta order also gives existing parties just 30 days from May 1-30, instead of the original 90 days as stated in the current law, to update their lists of members with the registrar of political parties.

Two major parties, the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties, recently filed petitions asking the court to rule whether the order violated the charter. Prinya said it’s now up to the court to decide whether it will choose to take up the petitions and rule on it. He believes that it should do so. A ruling should clarify what is an acceptable exercise of power under Article 44, which was meant to become obsolete when the interim charter was replaced but instead survived when it was added to the new charter.

Prinya said that without the new charter, the use of Article 44 could not be challenged because it was absolute and legitimate. But with the interim charter, which gave birth to Article 44, now dismissed, the court should take up the case and rule to set a standard on the issue. However, Prinya ventured that it was unlikely that Article 44 would be seen as violating the charter on the basis that the power had not been accommodated under Article 265 of the new charter.

Prinya’s view is the order had a negative impact on political party administrative work. It was probably not possible for all party members to verify and confirm their status and for the party to complete all required detailed paperwork as required by the order.

The court, he said, would most likely consider imposing remedies so that the practical realities are brought into alignment with the Constitution.

At the very least, he said the court would carefully consider the petitions and rule on certain clauses that they deem as contradicting the charter.

Junta chief Prayut, meanwhile, has not ruled out the possibility of him entering or engaging in politics in the future. In fact, he has said that he is now a politician and a former military man. If he decided to enter politics, recent developments such as the order could be seen as paving the way to that point, said Prinya.

He said such a move would have a negative impact on the country’s future politics, further deepening conflict and division.

The resulting conflict would put the junta right in the middle of the game, instead of acting as a referee forging reconciliation as was its first vow upon seizing power in 2014.

Prinya had a warning for the junta: do not instigate conflict. “The junta government is at a point of low credibility, so don’t push things that put pressure on yourself,” is his message to the junta.

Pol Colonel Olarn Sukkasem, a superintendent of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, said that the police are now gathering evidence to file a charge against Charnvit for allegedly breaking the Computer Crime Act’s Article 14.

The law hands out imprisonment of up to five-years or a Bt100,000 fine against anyone convicted of disseminating “dishonest or fraudulent” information into a computer system in ways likely to cause damage to people.

On January 11 and January 15, Charnvit shared two online articles via his Facebook account, commenting on a purse that Naraporn Chan-o-cha carried when she accompanied her husband, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, on a trip to the White House last October.

Post corrected

The first post he shared suggested that the purse might be a million-baht luxury purse, in addition to other comments about it.

The other post he shared, however, was an article in which he corrected his earlier post, noting that Naraporn’s purse was actually made of a domestic fabric and cost only about Bt1,000.

Both of Charnvit’s posts triggered online criticism of both Naraporn and the Prayut-ruled government.

Charnvit then said that while he is not a luxury-goods expert, he stood by his comments that it is very common practice for elites to own luxury items.

“This case reflects the ‘Thainess’ of Thai elites,” he said. “I stand by my honesty in making comments and am willing to fight in a [legal] procedure.”

Although being a frequent commentator on the roles of Thai elites, the 76-year-old historian and professor usually writes short posts on his Facebook status, nothing likely to prompt a prosecution against him – until this case.

The university announced on Saturday that 70.6 per cent of the respondents thought the prime minister should be selected from among elected MPs, while 29.4 per cent said the prime minister could be an outsider.

The survey comes amid growing speculation that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, would seek to remain PM after the election as an “outsider” selected by MPs and Senators after the election. The new constitution allows a non-MP to become the prime minister during a five-year transitional period after the military junta’s control ends with an election.

Asked whether they would vote for Prayut to become the prime minister if the election were held today, 36.8 per cent of the respondents said “Yes”, while 34.8 per cent said “No” and the rest said they had no comment.

In May 2017, the university’s survey found that 52.8 per cent of the respondents said they would vote for Prayut as the prime minister.

Prayut recently said Thailand was going to have “Thai-style” democracy after the next election.

Asked what they think about Thai-style democracy, 29.1 per cent of the respondents said it would cause no change to Thai politics, while 27.9 per cent said it would lead to semi-military government politics and 22.5 per cent said it would prompt Thailand to have unity.

But the new approach is being questioned by the Constitutional Drafting Commission. They worry that removal of the cross-selection process would allow fraud during the senate selection process.

Admiral Tharathorn Kajitsuwan, the committee’s spokesperson, said a majority of committee members has agreed to reduce the group number by merging some groups together.

It also agreed to remove the cross-selection process and allow selections from within groups to recruit senator candidates from a district level up to the national level.

The committee proposed a new method to detect fraud. All candidates within each group would elect 13 finalists from within that group. If a group includes candidates that gain no more than 10 per cent of votes for all of the candidates (3 in 10 candidates for example), conspiracy and fraud would be considered to have taken place.

The committee expects to submit the amended senate bill to the National Legislative Assembly by January 26, said Tharathorn.

CDC spokesperson Nora Chit Sinhaseni, said the Commission had no problem with the reduction in the number of professional groups from 20 to 15, but was concerned about the removal of the cross-selection.

In its view, the cross-selection proposed by the CDC is still the best means to prevent fraud, he said.

Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, meanwhile, urged all concerned parties to be cautious when dealing with the issue, suggesting them to study carefully what addressed in the charter. He said the provisional chapter in regard to the senate would have finished in the next five years, at which point  the new proposals and their effects would be in full force and for the long term, if passed.

Thawatchai Raksasil, 33, and his aide were arrested in Khon Kaen using arrest warrants and were brought to the Natural Resources and Environment Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Police for interrogation Friday evening.

They reportedly confessed to being the principle coordinators within the gang.

The arrest is part of ongoing suppression efforts against the gang, which is believed to be the largest Phayung (endangered Siamese rosewood) logging gang in the country and possibly transnational in scope.

The centre’s Phayak Prai taskforce, led by Cheewapap Cheewatham, last December teamed up with Thap Lan National Park rangers to track illegal-logging moves by the gang’s members within the Sakaerat Environmental Research Station in Nakhon Ratchasima province. Two ancient Phayung trees had been cut down and sawed into pieces and placed beside the roadside pending transportation.

The park’s Central Network Anti-Poaching System (NCAPS) cameras were later able to capture the gang returning to the site to transport the logs. When officials showed up to make arrests, they were fired upon by gang members and their vehicles damaged by bullets.

Three people were arrested at the scene, and at least two vehicles were seized as a result.

The centre then mobilised the forces to expand the investigation, which included the Phayak Prai task force, officers from the Royal Thai Police and their Natural Resources and Crime Suppression Division, along with the military from Internal Security Operations Command.

Discovering that one of the cars had a fake licence plate, officials went to check a car rental tent, from which one of the vehicles had reportedly been bought. The business owner claimed that four of his cars had been stolen. The matter is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, officials also expanded their investigation, and learned of the involvement of a resort in a popular tourist attraction in nearby Wang Nam Khiao.

One of three loggers previously arrested in the October operation reportedly confessed that the gang used the resort to plan its operations. The resort belongs to a so-far unnamed former senior police officer, with the rank of Police Lieutenant rank, who claimed that the 12-rai (1.9-hectare) plot was under an Agricultural Land Reform designation.

Typically, land under that designation is distributed by the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) to landless farmers. However, ALRO informed FPOC officials that the land’s status is still under review and it had not been allocated to anyone.

Athapol Charoenshunsa, FPOC director and deputy chief of the Royal Forestry Department, said that the centre’s initial investigation suggested the criminal ring was probably the largest illegal Phayung logging gang in the country. It is transnational, with several known criminals involved, he said.

“This criminal case is very critical as a number of criminals have records related to similar Phayung logging cases. Despite their criminal records, they did not show fear, but repeated their crimes. They even shot at officials,” Athapol said.

An additional 20 suspected gang members have arrest warrants issued against them, with Vietnamese individuals also identified, putting the total number of criminals known to be involved at 25.

Siamese rosewood has been extensively harvested from Thai forests in recent years, from the Northeast to the eastern forests of the World Heritage Site of Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex which includes Thap Lan National Park.

A surge in demand is partly driven by large-scale international consumption of the wood, including in China. The strikingly beautiful wood is used for household furniture and decoration. In China, many people believe the wood brings good luck and prosperity.

In recent years, foreign nationals have been found to be involved in illegal logging activities, prompting officials to step up their suppression efforts with the help of technology such as the NCAPS camera system.

THE ELECTION is likely to be postponed until next year after a majority of the law vetting committee yesterday voted to write that the MP election bill should be enforced 90 days after promulgation.

Committee spokesman Taweesak Sootakawatin said the move follows the junta’s recent order that only allows political parties to start working on their administrative affairs later this year.

He refused to say whether the extension would cause the election to be delayed. Taweesak Sootakawatin

The charter states that the election should take place within 150 days after all the four laws, including the MP bill, were “in effect”.

Taweesak said that the stipulation, first addressed under Article 2, still had to undergo deliberation by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA). A minority of members continued to argue that the bill should be effective as soon as it is promulgated, he said.

He insisted the committee had acted independently and there had been no pressure to prolong the road map. However, he refused to say who brought the idea to the committee.

The proponent of the move also proposed an extension of 120 days but the committee settled at 90 days.

Some critics speculate that the delay supports the junta’s ambition to set up a party to contest the election. The 90-day period could give the junta extra time to set up a party.

Chat Thai Pattana politicians said the move would taint Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha image.

Paradon Prisananantakul, the party’s former MP, said that although the delay was legally feasible, it would affect Prayut’s credibility.

However, no matter how the law turned out, Paradon said he believed politicians from all parties were ready to comply.

Koravee Prasananantakul

Koravee Prasananantakul, also Chat Thai Pattana’s former MP, said the news about the 90-day extension may be a move to test reactions, although the government’s image would also be impacted, he said.

Despite the controversy, he said he believed all parties would equally fall under the same conditions so it would not prove advantageous to one particular group. But if the rules created inequality, conflict may arise, he said.

Siriphong Angkhasakulkiat, the former Si Saket MP, said he did not mind whether the election was held late this year or early next year, although the government should just be exact about the date.

People could have different perspectives about the legislation, he said, but in the end the voters would decide the election. Siriphong said he hoped political groups had learned a lesson from the issues that had arisen in the past decade.

Nipit Intrasombat, deputy leader of Democrat Party, wrote on Facebook yesterday the extension of the enforcement of the law could be against the Constitution.

He warned the powers that be that such an action could have consequence. In the past, the Pheu Thai Party tried to amend the Constitution and it led to a political crisis, he said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its World Report 2018 released yesterday, said the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had failed in 2017 to keep its repeated promises made at the United Nations and elsewhere to respect human rights and restore democratic rule.

“The government announced the national human rights agenda in November, but did not end repression of civil and political liberties, imprisonment of dissidents, and impunity for torture and other abuses,” the report said.

In the latest 643-page annual report, its 28th edition, HRW has reviewed the human rights situation in more than 90 countries.

The report said that as head of the junta, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha “wields limitless authority, including the military’s power to arrest, detain and interrogate civilians without safeguards against abuse”. There are still at least 1,800 civilians facing prosecution in military courts, which do not meet international fair-trial standards, it added.

“Thailand’s military junta has used its unchecked powers to drop the country into an ever-deeper abyss of human rights abuses,” said Brad Adams, HRW Asia director. “Instead of restoring basic rights as promised, the junta prosecuted critics and dissenters, banned peaceful protests, and censored the media.”

“Prime Minister Prayut’s empty promises cannot justify a return to business as usual with Thailand,” Adams said. “Governments around the world should press the junta to immediately end repression, respect fundamental rights, and return the country to democratic civilian rule,” he added.

Media outlets face intimidation, punishment and closure if they publicise commentaries critical of the junta or raise issues the NCPO considers to be sensitive to national security, the report said. Last year, some television and radio stations were temporarily forced off the air, and were allowed to resume broadcasting only after they agreed to practice self-censorship.

HRW said that since the 2014 coup, Thai authorities have arrested at least 105 people on lese majeste charges. Some defendants have been convicted and sentenced to many years of imprisonment.

Also, the NCPO continued to summon members of the opposition Pheu Thai Party and the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), as well as anyone accused of opposing military rule, for “attitude adjustment”, according to the report. Arrests were also made of dissident academics and journalists, as well as protesters against government projects.

In 2017, the NCPO rejected calls by human-rights groups to disclose information about persons held in secret military detention, and summarily dismissed all allegations that soldiers tortured detainees. “The junta did not move 369 cases [involving the prosecution of approximately 1,800 civilians] out of military courts and into civilian courts as required by international law,” HRW said.

To worsen the human rights situation, the HRW said, the National Legislative Assembly in February suspended its consideration of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Bill, which would make torture and enforced disappearance criminal offences in accordance with Thailand’s treaty obligations. The government has not clarified whether the bill will be reintroduced.

However, there was some improvement. HRW said that in March 2017, in response to domestic and international pressure, the Internal Security Operations Command announced that it would end its legal action against activists Somchai Homlaor, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet and Anchana Heemmina, who accused the military of torturing suspected separatist insurgents in the southern border provinces. On October 24, prosecutors informed the police that the case had formally been dropped.

Ekachai was preparing to hand his Bt1,000 watch to Prawit in front of Government House when a man, later identified as Ritthikrai Chaiwannasat, ran up to him fast.

Ritthikrai was, however, blocked by police officers. He and Ekachai were both taken to the Dusit district police station.

Ritthikrai was allegedly hiding a three-inch folding knife in his bag. He was charge with wrongfully carrying a knife in a public place.

Ekachai said the incident was the closest to a physical attack he had experienced during his activist years. “Normally I get attacked verbally, but not physically,” he wrote in his Facebook post. “I don’t know his affiliation but he surely wanted to threaten me.”

Ekachai has made several attempts to give his cheap watch to the scandal-ridden junta leader to convey his message that “any watch can tell the time and now the junta’s time is up”.

Prawit has been spotted wearing at least 25 luxury watches, whose prices range from hundreds of thousands to millions of baht, even though he had not declared any assets worth more than Bt 200,000 when he started serving in the Cabinet in 2014.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders convened a session at the Supreme Court a 9.30am to hand down the ruling against Tarit.

The charges were laid in 2016 by the NACC National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for failing to declare his four bank accounts, a plot of land under his and his wife’s names, his shares in two companies, and two bank accounts under his and his wife’s names.

The NACC alleged that Tarit assigned his wife and a relative of his wife to take on the assets without informing the NACC.

On December 1 last year, the court read the charge to Tarit and he submitted a written statement pleading guilty to the court.

Before the court read the verdict on Friday, Tarit reaffirmed his guilty plea to the panel of judges.

The court ruled that Tarit intentionally withheld the information of his assets from the NACC and so was found guilty of assets concealment.

The court ruled that Tarit was prohibited from holding a state official post from April 3, 2017 when he left the post of an advisor to the PM’s Office. He was also banned from holding any political office for five years.

The court initially sentenced Tarit to six months in jail and imposed a fine of Bt10,000. Since Tarit had pleaded guilty, the court commuted the sentence by half to a three-month imprisonment and a fine of Bt5,000. Because this was Tarit’s first offence, the imprisonment was suspended and Tarit was put on probation for two years.

Tarit is also facing another trial in the Civil Court after the NACC suspected that he had unlawfully amassed Bt90 million worth of assets. The NACC froze the assets on March 10, 2016. Tarit and his wife are defending their assets in that action.

The text in the Constitution is clearly written – the election is to be held 150 days after the four laws essential for the election are “effective”, not “promulgated”, the law professor said.

If the 90 days were to be added on to the MP bill, then an election postponement could be expected, he said.

“I view that this is another way to do it if [they] don’t want the vote to happen,” Parinya said. “It was marked before as November 2018, but if the enforcement date is set [that way] then the voting is delayed.”

He said this was a serious issue. Although some people may think that democracy is not all about the election, voting was intertwined with the charter, he said.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) could stay in power until the new government was in place, he added. But the NCPO would be questioned and there would be pressure on it, especially given that it is on its decline, he said.