He did not elaborate. The comment came after his fellow deputy PM, Wissanu Krea-ngam, said last week that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) was considering allowing local elections at various levels.

Wissanu said the military junta had discussed the matter with Interior Ministry officials and it was possible that the ban on political gatherings would be lifted to facilitate the elections.

The NCPO ban prohibits political parties from holding meetings. Calls for the ban to be eased increased after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that a national election might be held in 2019.

Prawit said that, if local elections are allowed, candidates will be asked not to criticise the junta or otherwise stir up conflict.

Meanwhile, National Legislative Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said he would discuss with assembly whips this week the possibility of local elections being held.

The assembly’s committee on local administration would examine pertinent laws that the government and Interior Ministry might want reviewed to facilitate local elections, he said.

The committee on Wednesday asked questions of representatives from the Court of Justice, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Royal Thai Police, as well as the Foreign Ministry as they sought to understand how facing charges or being convicted of a crime would impact a former prime minister’s possession of passports and ability to leave the country.

According to committee vice chair Somchai Sawangkarn, the committee had noticed repeated cases of convicted people, or people charged with crimes, managing to flee the country, including Yingluck. They wished to learn why this was occurring and what can be done to prevent it and so had invited the concerned parties to discuss the matter with the committee and give an update on their work.

Somchai said the committee was told that in Yingluck’s case, the Foreign Ministry had been contacted by the police, which suggested that the former prime minister was ineligible to carry a passport after the courts had ruled against her.

In a letter to the Royal Thai Police, the Foreign Ministry said it had considered the issue, agreed with the point made by the police, and suggested that Yingluck’s passports should be revoked.

The Attorney-General and Court of Justice insiders also informed the ministry that the decision of the Supreme Court convicting Yingluck was final after she did not launch an appeal against the verdict convicting her over the rice-subsidy scheme.

The ministry’s Consular Department then decided to revoke all of her passports after considering all opinions from concerned parties. It also circulated the notice to all Thai embassies worldwide, Somchai said.

However, it turned out that Yingluck had carried four passports in total, so the committee questioned how and why she had obtained them.

Somchai said a prime minister or ministers generally would be given a single diplomatic passport along with a general personal passport.

But Yingluck somehow obtained two more passports, a personal passport and a diplomatic passport, both issued on the same day – February 4, 2015 – even though her original two documents had not expired, said Somchai. He said representatives from the Foreign Ministry told the committee that it is possible for an individual to obtain a second general personal passport if a case is made out of necessity, but it would be considered on a case-by-case basis by the ministry.

However, the ministry’s representatives were not able to clearly explain to the committee how someone could possess a second diplomatic passport. They are normally limited to one per person and not renewed until it expired, Somchai noted. “They just said, it’s a consideration upon ‘a special case’, and it’s ‘a policy matter’,” said Somchai.

Somchai said committee members did not think their question had been adequately answered and still did not understand the reasoning behind issuing two additional passports to Yingluck in the period after the coup. “This happened during the junta’s term, didn’t it? We were worried,” said Somchai.

Somchai said diplomatic passports carry special privileges for the holder, as most countries would allow easy entry and exit without a visa.

The committee has not yet decided what to do with what they learned at the meeting. So far, they have recommended that the parties concerned fix a gap in their processes that may have allowed a convicted person to flee the country. Perhaps moving processes online would allow easier tracking of people who have been charged with crimes or applied for duplicate passports.

Yingluck was accused by the National Anti-Corruption Comm-ission of dereliction of duty and malfeasance for failing to prevent corruption in her government’s rice pledging scheme. She was sentenced in absentia to jail for five years.

Yingluck fled the country two days before the first court ruling scheduled on August 25. Her four passports were revoked on October 25, according to deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks said the ministry would investigate the matter before making any comments.

The 39-year-old Thai, who converted to Australian citizenship, will run for a seat as the MP for the Brisbane constituency of Stafford in the November 25 poll.

In a recent interview, LNP state president Gary Spence said Wuttipong was a great example of the new generation of LNP members.

Wuttipong, now known as Ed, is originally from Suphan Buri province and has been working as a senior financial adviser for BT Financial, a company in the Wespac Bank group, where his office is in the constituency he is challenging.

He has been campaigning hard for several months, greeting and engaging with people on pavements, in train and bus stations and through knocking on doors.

Wuttipong could not speak English very well when his parents sent him to study in Brisbane in August 1996 after he graduated from King’s College high school, Nakhon Pathom province. He then completed an intensive 12-month English course at TAFE, a technical and further education college.

Finding he had developed a love for Queensland, he stayed on to complete a degree in Arts (International Relations) and Commerce at the University of Queensland, where he met his wife, Lisa.

They married in 2003 and have two boys, Zenden, 13, and Jetrin, 9. Ed said he decided to migrate to Australia for a better life and was grateful to find that Queensland was the best place to live and raise his family.

“Which is why I put my hand up to help build an even better Queensland with the LNP,” says the aspiring politician. “With different knowledge shared, we can achieve greater outcomes together.”

Ed’s interest in politics started when he was 10. He recalled watching the Bangkok governor elections on television with his grandfather.

He was drawn to Queensland politics after spending six months in an internship program at the state Parliament, where he had an opportunity to work with the Member for Maroochydore, Fiona Simpson.

“I had an opportunity to write a report on how the government could promote Queensland tourism through international students who had chosen to come to study in Queensland,” he recalled. “I received a high distinction with that report.”

That recognition for good work was the beginning of a love affair with his state and its politics.

Ed said his background in banking and finance was a good fit with his party’s key campaign message: to better manage Queensland’s finances and to deliver job creating investments to Queenslanders.

He and his colleagues at the National Resources and Environment Committee have not missed the opportunity to ensure a tangible reform plan for one of the most complicated sectors: forests.

The committee’s working panel on land resources has completed its reform plan for the forest sector to be proposed to the public and the government by next month. Over a week ago, it met with forest chiefs to present the scope of the reform plan, which has addressed the most critical challenges in the sector, including massive encroachment that has caused conflict for years.

Khwanchai said that, along with deforestation, encroachment had long been a chronic problem. The trend of deforestation has slowed down, from an average 800,000 rai (128,00 hectares) a year over the last 40 years to 30,000 rai a year in the past few years, partly due to stringent law enforcement under the junta’s directives. However, Thailand has still lost a massive amount of forest, with only around 102 million rai remaining. Worse, about 20 million rai, mostly in watersheds, is severely deforested and almost 6 million rai has been occupied.

Khwanchai said the severity of the problem pointed to flaws in forest managemeny.

“The problem is deep-rooted, and our agencies in charge of forest protection cannot keep up with it,” he said.

Khwanchai said that under the major administrative reform that took place in 2002, forest agencies, including the Royal Forestry Department and the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, were reorganised and separated. However, this bureaucratic rearrangement was apparently done to manage the workforce, not respond to the challenges and problems at hand.

The new reform panel has recognised this weakness, and thus highlighted the reorganisation of forest-related organisations and reforming their laws as one of the five key issues in the forest sector.

Under the reform plan, current organisations would be subject to reviews and reorganised again to respond to the current challenges. Their regional offices would be reformed to respond to area-based missions, while their law-enforcement units would be empowered to suppress forest crimes.

More importantly, forest-related laws would be amended to pave the way for better forest management and protection. Among those would be the National Parks Act and the Wildlife Conservation Act.

Khwanchai said that the NRSA had proposed such legal amendments but could not finish them during its term. What would be different, he said, would be the introduction of regulations under these laws that would help ensure reform tangibility.

The forest reform panel has also addressed reordering land uses and conflict resolution.

For years, the relevant agencies have had to deal with people living in the forest or claiming ownership of forest land. The forest reform panel estimates that as many as 5.9 million rai are encroached upon at present. In 1998, the Cabinet decided to issue a resolution to pave the way for a massive land-ownership verification process for forest dwellers nationwide. However, the task has never been completed and a number of plots subject to verification have since changed hands, further complicating the issue.

Khwanchai said this problem must be finished so that forest territories and boundaries could be clarified and defined and massive encroachment could be tackled at its root. All related Cabinet resolutions or regulations would be subject to review, and new tools to help tackle this problem would be developed and put in place.

The forest reform panel has proposed area-based forest management reform as its third reform issue.

Khwanchai said the panel views that work on the ground should have continuity, and that responsible agencies must be identified and followed up to ensure that forests are well protected. Authorities would be alerted about further encroachment in a timely manner and these problems would be resolved. This could prevent problems accumulating as they had in the past, he said.

The forest reform panel has proposed public participation and resolutions for human and wildlife conflict as the fourth and fifth reform issues.

Khwanchai said to resolve the problem in a sustainable manner, the people’s participation is the most critical issue. With support from the people, forest protection would be assured in the long term.

Thanya Netithammakul, chief of the National Parks Department, said overall the panel’s reform plan had responded well to the challenges that the forest agencies face – especially conflicts involving people living in the forest.

As the department head, he hoped that reorganising the agency’s authority and law reform would particularly help address this problem.

“Above all, forest officials needed support and strong networks,” said Thanya.

LEADERS of 21 economies in Asia and the Pacific yesterday expressed their strong commitment to the multilateral trade system in the digital age and anti-protectionism, but also recognised the importance of bilateral agreements as strongly pushed by the United States.

“The Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, and the support for the multilateral trading system as well as the growth of connectivity strategies and programmes have provided long-term orientations for Apec’s activities and afforded hundreds of concrete cooperation areas,” said Vietnam’s President, Tran Dai Quang, chair of the meeting.

Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) gathered in Vietnam’s central city of Danang to champion the multilateral trading system and liberalisation amid changes in the global situation after one of its major members, the US, shifted its policy to focus on bilateralism.

In the declaration issued yesterday the leaders said they “recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognising the role of legitimate trade defence instruments”.

The statement is a compromise between the US’s demand to promote bilateral economic cooperation and the majority of Apec members who champion a multilateral trade framework at the core of cooperation among the economies.

President Donald Trump, who attended the Apec summit for the first time this year, has pushed his “America First” policy and earlier withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Washington had strongly pushed.

The remaining 11 members of the TPP held a meeting on the sidelines of the Apec in Danang and told a press conference yesterday that they had finally agreed to go ahead without the US, by suspending 20 provisions from the original deal.

Japan and Singapore are the most active members of the TPP. Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that the CPTPP would go into force after six of the 11 nations ratify it.

The 11 are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Apec ministerial meeting issued a statement yesterday, rather than immediately after the meeting on Wednesday, also voicing concerns about protectionism.

“We recall our pledge to extend our standstill commitment until the end of 2020 and recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognising the role of legitimate trade defence instruments,” the statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Apec should keep its faith in free trade amid the growing trend of protectionism and anti-globalisation.

The world is keeping a close eye on free trade pacts in the Asia and Pacific, which is a great challenge for the region, he said. Thailand and other Apec members hoped to see progress at the 11th ministerial meeting in the World Trade Organisation, he said.

Prayut proposed at the summit yesterday that Apec should also focus on human resource development, digital access, food security and green innovation.

Apec has a framework on human resource development in the digital age as a guideline for all to develop their human resources in keeping with advancing technology.

The Asia Pacific region is one of the major food producers of the world. Countries in the region should utilise digital technology to develop productivity in the agriculture sector to ensure world food security, he said.

The Thai government has applied HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy philosophy, which is compatible with new technology, to move the agriculture sector in the country towards “smart farming”, Prayut told Apec leaders.

In order to support and enhance micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Thailand has joined hands with Peru to push the Apec Strategy for Green Sustainable and Innovative MSMEs, he said.

As the Apec summit this year has approved the strategy, Thailand is ready to implement it, he said.

Apec aims to become a low-carbon society and to generate jobs in the growing “green industry”, he said.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the meeting that the government should play a key role in distributing the gains of globalisation and digitalisation.

While free markets and private enterprise are required to drive innovations that have opened up new frontiers for trade and commerce, efficient and fair economies are just as important, The Straits Times quoted Lee as saying.

The bill has already passed the first reading by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) earlier this month and is currently being revised by an ad hoc committee before returning to the table again for the second and third readings.

Mana Nimitmongkol, director of the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT), said the new provision would unnecessarily undermine scrutiny of corruption by the media and the general people.

In the past, the media and the people could help scrutinise politicians, as they were allowed to see the complete reports, he said. More than half of the scrutiny had been initiated by the public, and the government agencies took them from there, he added.

“Remember, the people have more eyes and ears than a handful of busy government officials,” Mana pointed out.

Jade Donavanik, an adviser to the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) responsible for the initial draft, said the new provision was the result of the drafters’ opinion that it could help lighten the workload of the NACC.

Jade explained that in reality, the general people as well as the media did not really use the detailed report. He pointed out that of the 500 asset items, people usually were interested in and highlighted only 10 or 20.

Although the NACC would only produce and publish a summary of the assets, Jade said people and the media could still have access to the detailed assets list. This, however, might require a little paperwork, he said.

Mana did not agree with the argument that publishing the detailed assets list would impose a huge burden on the NACC.

“Everything is provided by the politicians,” he said. All that the NACC has to do is disclose the papers to the people, Mana added.

Review of suggestion likely

Despite the contention that people could still have access to the report, Mana was concerned that there might be some conditions. For instance, they would perhaps allow only stakeholders or people affected by the matter, he added.

Jade, who is a member of the ad hoc committee revising the NACC bill, said this provision was not found to be controversial at all in the meeting. However, since it had received the media attention maybe when the committee discusses the stipulation again in detail, they could reconsider it, he added.

Another CDC member, Chartchai na Chiangmai, provided another reason for the controversial provision, saying there must be a balance between transparency and privacy.

Chartchai rejected the notion that this would compromise the transparency secured in the old law, which requires political holders taking or leaving office to report their assets, which would be later released in detail to the public.

The drafter said the NACC is given the authority by the new charter to handle the issue, including determining who must report their assets. By law, the NACC would be required to scrutinise the assets in detail and safeguard the information in case irregularities occur.

Since the 1997 Constitution, Cabinet members have been required to declare their assets when entering and leaving office to the NACC to reveal them to the public. Several politicians had been scrutinised because of this law such as the late Maj-General Sanan Kachornprasart who was later ousted from his interior minister post and banned from politics for five years for making a false declaration of assets.

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MATTERS OF CONCERN IN BILL

Controversial points surrounding the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) organic bill

• Declaration of assets by government officials at all levelsMany legislators viewed that only higher-ranking officials needed to report their assets to the NACC. The rest could report to their superiors only. Otherwise, the agency would have too heavy a workload.
• No publication of the complete assets listThe law requires not only political office holders but also |commissioners in independence agencies, as well as judges of the Constitutional Court, to disclose their assets. However, the controversial point was that the detailed list would not be open to the public. Critics are concerned this might undermine public scrutiny of potential corruption.
• Checks and balancesThe bill tasks the Office of the Auditor-General with scrutinising the NACC. It is concerned that the anti-graft agency might lose its |independence and its work might be compromised. The NACC argued that there were already existing measures to efficiently prevent |misconduct and fraud. But the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which drafted the bill, insisted that the NACC must be held in check by other agencies, too.
• Resetting the commissioners to square oneThe CDC held on to its principle that any commissioners failing to meet the new qualifications set out in the Constitution should be |dismissed. However, opponents fear the reset could affect the NACC’s work. The agency was working on many cases and requiring the new commissioners to take up all the work might prove too difficult.

The structure of the questionnaire requires that respondents physically show up at the centres, verifying themselves with national identification cards, and then write down their answers on forms, said Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda yesterday.

The pattern would follow much of the earlier “four questions” also previously launched by Prayut in which he claimed he was seeking the public’s thoughts about politicians and elections in light of next year’s general election.

The questions, however, have been slammed for being inaccurate in reflecting public opinion due to their unscientific methodology, and for having an underlying agenda of self-justification for the junta.

Former deputy PM Chaturon Chaisang said that the questions could be interpreted as hinting that the ruling junta wants to stay in power past the next election, through giving their support to a political party that would form a junta-backed government.

“From charter drafting, [to] holding a referendum to curbing political powers, Prayut’s bloc has done them all to achieve their goal,” Chaturon said in his Facebook status on Thursday.

“The only reason why he would have to launch such questions would probably be to ensure that they will gain public supports to carry on their plan, given that their administration performance isn’t satisfactory and their popularity declines,” the Pheu Thai Party’s key figure wrote.

One of the six questions asks if it the junta or the PM himself could support any party given that Prayut won’t compete in the election. Chaturon responded that this would be an abuse of power as state officers must remain politically neutral and not use their authority for their political benefit.

While the questions ask whether the election of “old-faced politicians” would be good for the country, the NCPO still maintains its political ban of five or more people, thus creating a barrier to new political faces emerging, he went on.

The questions also tend to justify the junta’s performance on combating corruption as well as following its draft national reform and strategy scheme.

“Any government will have to carry on [the reforms and strategies] by constitutional and legal mechanisms,” Chaturon said. “These functions should not be up to any specific group, without a check-and-balance system, like what the NCPO is now doing.”

Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday that he would next week discuss holding local elections with the Interior Ministry and the Constitution Drafting Commission next week.

However, as the NCPO order still hinders political activities, Wissanu said that the discussion would focus on amending related laws to support those elections.

“Voting in some local areas might need to be done after the general election,” the deputy said. “And to prevent conflicts, political bans may not be ‘unlocked’ in all areas simultaneously. We will have to see after the laws are amended.”

“Not yet, and please take care of the country for me,” Prayut said briefly before departing to Vietnam, where is scheduled to attend the Apec Summit.

Prayut’s Cabinet is expected to undergo its fourth shake-up since the junta came to power in 2014 amid widespread criticism that the three-year-old military government has not done enough to improve economic performances.

News of the reshuffle has been anticipated since General Sirichai Distakul suddenly resigned from his Labour Minister position after a director-general under his supervision was shifted.