He explained that was why he chose the term “Thai Niyom”, which can be translated as “Thai-ism” or “the Thai way”, to describe the country’s democracy.

“How much do Thai people take part in national development? How deeply do Thai people understand democracy? We don’t need to follow developed countries. Thailand may be different,” Prayut said.

“But basically, we need to play by the world’s rules – whether it is democracy or anything else. We must not forget the principles of democracy,” he added.

The prime minister was speaking while presiding over an event to mark National Teachers’ Day at the Teachers’ Council of Thailand Auditorium.

“For me, the Thai way of democracy is about how to make Thai people have a good understanding about democracy, and how to make Thai people do good things for good results for the country,” he said.

The prime minister first mentioned the term “Thai Niyom” in his Children’s Day speech last Saturday, which led to a lot of speculation about the intended meaning and his real intention.

The NACC has also rejected the call for it to consider suspending Prawit over what has become known as the “watchgate” affair, citing that it is not its duty to do so.

Netizens have tracked down photos of Prawit wearing many different watches from what seems to be an extravagant and extensive collection. Each of the watches appears to be worth hundreds of thousands of baht, and one of them probably cost more than Bt1 million.

The scandal arose after Prawit was seen wearing a very expensive Richard Mille watch during a photo session with the new Cabinet.

Facebook page CSI LA has reviewed media photos of Prawit and, as of Tuesday, it estimates that he has worn 23 luxury watches. The total price, based on market value, stands at more than Bt30 million – far higher than Prawit’s estimated income during his past three years in the office.

After the general election, if MPs were able to select a prime minister as stipulated in the 2017 charter, the Senate should not exploit its power to reverse such a resolution, Abhisit insisted.

The term ‘Thai-ism democracy’ should not be a justification for “such an undemocratic act”, he said during his TV show “Tong Tam” (Must Ask).

“We’ll have to ask him [Prayut] how the Senate is more Thai than the election [wishes] of the Thai people,” he said. “If they refer to the Constitution, then I have to say that the canon and democracy are different stories. Undemocratic countries also have a constitution.”

The former premier’s remarks came after junta head and prime minister Prayut had said on National Children’s Day that the country would have democracy but it must be “Thai-ism”, or a Thai-styled democracy.

Abhisit said he had no idea what Thai-ism democracy was, and cautioned the PM to be careful that it might not end up generating a common recognition.

“Be careful about where the Thainess in this Thai-ism democracy is. What exactly constitutes Thainess?” he said during the TV show. “Now, there’s probably one way to explain it; anything that is not international is Thai.”

Abhisit also said he understood the necessity for the adaptation of a political system to fit a society and culture, but it should not be an excuse to neglect its very foundation while maintaining the term ‘democracy’, which sounds fit for the international norm.

The Democrat politician also referred back to the era when General Prem Tinsulanonda was prime minister.

Thailand was then under a so-called ‘semi-democratic regime’, but Abhisit said that at least it was straightforward.

“They accepted it was half democracy and half not,” he said. “You can’t say it is fully democratic when it isn’t.”

He suggested on Monday that the bill on the NACC, which was recently passed by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), should be amended to reflect the relevant constitutional clauses involving the qualifications of NACC members.

The NACC bill exempts some members of the agency from complying with the Constitution’s tough clauses regarding required qualifications and prohibited qualities.

NACC president Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, for example, lacks certain qualifications and also has a prohibited quality, having been out of political office for less than the 10 years required by the charter for someone to be eligible to work as a commissioner.

In a Facebook message, Chaturon said that by passing the bill, the NLA members in effect had allowed the existing NACC membership to remain in office until their term ends, although they do not meet the tough qualifications set by the 2017 Constitution.

He added that the charter set high standards for NACC members with the goal of preventing possible political intervention from people in power.

“It is against the Constitution for the NLA to allow the existing NACC members to remain in office until their term ends,” Chaturon insisted.

He also noted that the NACC chief is close to the ruling junta, and by allowing him to remain in office, the junta would undermine the Constitution’s checks-and-balances system aimed at preventing government corruption.

“If the existing NACC members are allowed to remain in office, without the NACC bill being revised, the NCPO should brace for a total collapse,” Chaturon said, referring to the ruling National Council for Peace and Order.

“These so-called laws have infringed people’s rights and consequently obstructed public voices in decision-making procedures despite effects on their communities,” said Jon Ungpakorn, an executive director of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), at Thammasat University’s Tha Phra Chan campus. “We can’t be truly democratic with lack of sufficient public participation.”

The petition would be undertaken in line with the 2017 charter’s Article 133, which requires 10,000 signatures, endorsed with copies of national IDs, to propose legislation to the parliament.

A bill deliberated in parliament is a possible way to overturn the laws, some of which enacted under the sweeping Article 44 powers of the NCPO head, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The power was first given under the now-defunct 2014 interim charter, then addressed in the new charter.

However, the groups plan to file the petition only to the elected Lower House after the upcoming election.

They said they have little faith in the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA), whose performance “has not protected public interest but rather favoured nepotism”, according to Jon.

“This attempt will at least put pressure on the NCPO to consider the revocation as soon as possible,” he said.

Many of the participating groups have faced or feared prosecution under NCPO laws. These include laws prohibiting political gatherings of five or more people and empowering military officers with policing authority, including the power to order arbitrary detention.

Sunee Chiawarose, a former National Human Rights Commissioner and currently a coordinator of the Women’s Movement, said that pressures are felt not only by civil society but also by those who enforce the law.

“Basically, both we and they have to be oversensitive in almost any activities we perform,” Sunee said. “We were afraid of being prosecuted while they could be afraid of neglecting their duties.”

The women’s group has been active in land management and labour rights issues, but she has had to tone down its activities to comply with the NCPO orders. “We have to ask for their permission every time we want to hold a forum,” she said, adding that some activities had been ceased while they were being conducted.

Chatchay Thammo, a manager of the North Activist Community, said he had a first-hand experience of being tracked down by officers under the post-coup atmosphere.

“When we raised points about local developments and infrastructure, they feared that we could cause sedition in Chiang Mai,” Chatchay said.

Rosana said netizens, including those on the anti-corruption CSI LA Facebook page, had documented Prawit wearing 22 luxury watches with an estimated value of Bt34.7 million, based on market prices.

She said Prawit could claim that about 20 watches worn by him have not yet been reported to the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC), because they only appear in recent photos.

But at least two watches – the 16th and 20th as reported by the CSI LA – should have already been reported to the agency as they were apparently his assets before he took office during the Abhisit government in 2010.

Rosana said that possession of these two watches could be enough to prove that Prawit failed to report assets worth more than Bt200,000 to the NACC, as required by law.

Rosana said Prawit’s income during the past three years should not have exceeded Bt10 million, but the watches he had allegedly acquired were worth more that Bt30 million. This raised an interesting question as to how the NACC’s probe into the case should proceed.

Rosana urged concerned officials to look into taxation regulations to help in the case.

If Prawit obtained the watches as inheritances, he must have some proof, such as the wills of the deceased. But if he was given the watches by family members, he must identify the persons or show other proof, then apply for a tax waiver of no more than Bt20 million and pay tax on the rest.

If Prawit was given the watches by people other than family members, he must again have proof or be able to identify those persons, and ask for a tax waiver of no more than Bt10 milion and pay tax on the rest.

However, if he showed such proof or identified persons for this purpose, Prawit might risk violating the NACC’s regulation to not take gifts worth more than Bt3,000, Rosana said.

In addition, the persons who gave the watches to Prawit would have to prove where they earned the money to buy them, and declare whether they had paid tax on their income.

Rosana said if Prawit claimed that he borrowed the watches from friends, he must identify those friends so the Customs Department could trace whether they had paid customs duties for the import of those watches. If they had not paid customs duties, then Prawit might risk violating the Customs law for taking tax-unpaid items. The gift-givers’ income would also have to be checked, and it would have to be determined whether they had paid tax.

The extreme case, Rosana said, was if Prawit said he had bought the watches himself – because his income is apparently far lower than the price of the watches. If that were the case, he would face an allegation of having unusual wealth, Rosana said.

Rosana said the handling of Prawit’s case would show whether the junta government really took corruption seriously, and whether the new charter – which is claimed to be a corruption-suppression tool – would be as effective as it is supposed to be, or just another tool to suppress the government’s opponents.

The ex-MPs are seeking clarification over whether the NACC will pursue them for abuse of authority for proposing an amnesty bill in 2013.

One of the ex-MPs, Worachai Hema, took the issue to the media, saying the NACC was considering whether the MPs would be charged.

However, the NACC president dismissed this, saying the issue had not moved as quickly as reported. The matter is with its subpanel, which is still investigating the case, he said.

Watcharapol also dismissed speculation that the NACC’s resolution on the case would “wipe out” Pheu Thai’s MPs, saying its investigation would follow procedures and would be accountable enough for any examination.

Watcharapol said the inquiry was at an initial stage and the NACC has been doing its best to look into all aspects of the issue. He said the NACC has procedures to follow, and its secretary-general has already reported twice to commissioners about the case.

As Prawit has been seen wearing more than 20 luxury watches on different occasions, the NACC would need to find out more details, Watcharapol said.

Prawit, he added, had not yet reported anything in addition to his initial letter of explanation to the NACC.