The group, accompanied by lawyers Winyat Chartmontree and Chokchai Angkaew, submitted the letter in response to the Supreme Court’s decision last month to dismiss the case.

The court had reasoned that the matter was not in its jurisdiction, saying that the investigation should have been conducted by the NACC and the case brought instead to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

The letter was received by the Attorney-General’s Office spokesman, Lieutenant Somnuek Siangkong.

“The Attorney-General will consider it and pass down orders,” he said. “As this is a crucial issue, I believe he will consider it and give an order quickly to ensure justice.”

Winyat, also the secretary-general of the United Lawyers For Rights And Liberty, said the Supreme Court’s statement should be legally binding and counted as new evidence.

He said the group had decided to bring the case to the Office of the Attorney-General so it could give an order for the NACC to take charge.

The lawyer also called for the NACC to disclose the case file against Abhisit and Suthep that it had dismissed in 2015 to show whether it had investigated the victims’ deaths.

The NACC might have dismissed the case because it did not consider the deaths and had focused only on the malfeasance case, Winyat said. However, he said the NACC should now also take into consideration the Supreme Court’s recent statement.

If the NACC ruled that Abhisit and Suthep were guilty of malfeasance, the red-shirt group also plans to bring to court the murder charge that was filed against them earlier.

Meanwhile, NACC president Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit said that if new evidence was presented, the case could be reconsidered. If not, it was impossible to reconsider the case, he said.

An examination of whether new evidence had been presented was underway, he said.

 The basin, home to around six million residents in the Sagaing region and a few nearby, is considered as one of Myanmar’s significant conservation corridors and is rich of biodiversity that can provide valuable ecological services to its residents and Myanmar as a whole, said Prof Win Muang, chairman of the Myanmar Environment Institute, a noted research institute dealing with the environment.

At least 38 species found at the basin are listed as globally threatened. The basin in recent years has been challenged with rapid development that could affect those values. This includes mining activities, logging and the imminent impact of climate change.

Myanma recently put environmental-related laws in place following the new constitution’s promulgated in 2008.

Concerned parties, including academics and policy makers, feel the need for capacity building to timely monitor and assess the environment, and especially how to translate findings into more meaningful and responsive policies to keep up with the development trend.

“There is still a gap between research findings and policy makings that need to be closed,” said Dr Thanapon Piman, project leader of the Mainstreaming Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Values into Development Plans for the Chindwin River basin project from the SEI.

The workshop focuses on strengthening capacity building on environmental impact assessments on the Chindwin’s ecosystems, economic evaluating and mainstreaming new knowledge into government policies.

Lessons from the Mekong are being shared to workshop participants, who are expected to help enhance the processes for their region.

Charlie Navanugraha, director of Nakhon Phanom University’s Research and Development Institute, said his recent study on the ecological values of the floodplain forests in Northeast Thailand shows that resources collected in forests, from bamboos to mushrooms, could yield far higher incomes to the villagers than cutting down trees and turning them into the rice fields – as much as 20 times of their average annual income of around Bt10,000.

“They don’t have to destroy their forests to grow rice which yields them far less income while damaging several more of ecological services unnessarily. They want rice, just go buy it with their incomes from the forests,” Navanugraha said.

The key challenge, Navanugraha said, is how to make people know this and put it in their future planning.

Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar campaign director of International Rivers, said there are a large number of studies available on the Mekong River, including MRC’s strategic environmental assessment.

Pianporn said the studies showed there has been huge damage caused by hydropower development, especially on fisheries, agricultural, regional economies and livelihoods of millions.

However, Pianporn said the biggest challenge is countering the fact that decisions are not made based on knowledge. Ecosytem services and social dimensions are not valued, nor taken into account.

Win Muang added: “I expect the workshop to help enhance our knowledge while forging a network between Mekong and the Chindwin experts as well as policy makers for better mainstreaming research findings into future policies and implementations.

“Valuing river ecosystem services can be assessed economically, But their value to your heart, when you feel good seeing a beautiful environment and it enables you to create lots of good things, it’s even more challenging how you will value it, how many kyats shall we pay.”

The meeting in the nation’s treasured former capital will be held on the second day of PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s field visit to the region after spending his first day in Suphan Buri.

The government has supported farmers in the region through distribution of land, aid for research and development of cane plantation, boosts for SMEs and supports for sustainable agriculture following a “sufficiency economy philosophy”, said Government Spokesperson Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd on Sunday.

The government also increased irrigation areas by more than 200,000 rai (32,000 hectares), rehabilitated natural water sources, developed groundwater sources for dry areas and built 362 schools in the central region, Sansern said.

Other local government achievements included developing tourism in Ayutthaya by repairing archaeological site; supporting transportation modes via bicycles, boats or trams, and “holistically” managing garbage, he added.

Kanin spoke after the Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn revealed on Thursday that the EC would discuss whether it would propose that the clause be interpreted by the Constitutional Court.

According to the constitution, the general election shall be held and completed within 150 days after passage of the four organic laws on the EC, political parties, the election and the Senate source.

It was still not clear what “completion” would cover and whether it would include the announcement of election results, Somchai said.

The EC has asked the Constitution Drafting Commission and the Council of State, but still has not received clarification, he added.

However, Kanin insisted that Meechai should be the best person to explain it, given that the charters of 1978 and 1991, which Meechai also took part in drafting, also contained the said clause.

Kanin said that he was concerned about political bias in the current Constitutional Court, as the ruling junta had allowed its judges to continue serving although they should have been “stripped off” along with the 2007 charter.

“It is about the perspectives of those who want to postpone the election and those who want to vote quickly,” he said “So, whatever interpretation the court provides will never stop this clash [of ideas].”

If the court provides clarification, it will mean that it will be outlining a yet-to-be-enforced clause. If this happens, others may copy this pattern by forwarding every unclear matter to the Constitutional Court for clarification.

“The EC themselves should know what ‘completion of election’ means,” he said. “They are responsible not only for organising elections but for managing several tasks before the first parliamentary meeting. I wonder why they are not sure of their own authority.”

Of the 1,480 people surveyed nationwide, 55 per cent wanted elections by next September while the rest wanted them later. The poll was conducted September 5-16.

Asked which party they would vote for, more than 32 per cent favoured the longstanding Democrat Party, while only 19 per cent named the Pheu Thai Party. Almost 28 per cent were expecting to support a new party not yet formed, and more than 20 per cent remained undecided.

“Still, the next questions are, will a winning party manage to become the government?,” said Super Poll managing director Noppadon Kannika. “Also, how will a future government administer the country under the new constitution?”

“Our initial in-depth study showed that most people still have no idea about what the post-election scenarios could be.”

Meanwhile, results from Suan Dusit poll also released on Sunday showed that most people feel indifferent about Thai politics and believe it is still too early to predict when the next general election would actually take place.

Of the 1,109 people surveyed, almost 48 per cent said that the election might not be held as promised, whoever won the election would not make significant changes in the political arena, and that corruption would continue.

More than 32 per cent, however, believed that the junta’s so-called road map to elections, a long-term administrative plan, and lessons learned in the recent path have led to improvements in Thai politics.

Around 30 per cent said that the nation’s politics have worsened due to deep-rooted conflicts, the continuing presence of the same old political faces and economic problems that remain unsolved.

Asked what they were most interested in, almost 82 per cent focused on when the election would be scheduled, 68 per cent kept watch for any possibility of a so-called opposition-free “national government”, and almost 56 per cent paid close attention to enactment of the new organic laws that accompany the constitution.

Asked what they thought about these issues, more than 74 per cent replied that they are important to the country’s faiths and should be thought through, 65 per cent wanted to see Thailand develop in every way and more than 60 per cent wanted democratic elections to happen.

Asked what politicians should do during this period, more than 72 per cent said that they should provide fruitful political suggestions, 67 per cent said that they should not stir up any conflict and almost 56 per cent viewed that they should be preparing the nation for elections.

In a related development, the same Super Poll found that as many as 75 per cent of people did not know that PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha is scheduled, although tentatively, to visit the White House based on a phone-call invitation by President Donald Trump in April.

However, 65 per cent supported Prayut’s trip to the US, with 78 per cent seeing opportunity to enhance bilateral ties. Almost 57 per cent wanted Prayut-Trump talks to bear fruits in trade and investment, 48 per cent wanted ties in education, 31 per cent looked forward to public security discussions, 31 per cent wanted to see increased labour protection and 29 per cent wanted to see solutions to human trafficking.

“Gen Prawit has said clearly before that he had not met or talked to [Thaksin],” Maj-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said on Saturday. Prawit, meanwhile, said briefly on a phone interview that he was just back from England. The general immediately hung up after the reporter asked about speculation that he had met |Thaksin.

Thaksin, whose sister, ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, is believed to have fled the country recently, was taking a vacation in London around the same time as Prawit was meeting with Britain’s defence minister and foreign deputy minister there.

The Defence spokesman insisted that the speculation was not true. Prawit had been in London for work and he was travelling with a big group of officials.

In addition, Kongcheep said he did not think Thaksin and Prawit were in London at the same time.

He believed Thaksin was there after Prawit had already returned to Thailand. It was impossible that the two had met, he added.

“The rumour sparked off even before Gen Prawit’s trip. And when he returned, some people spread the word again deliberately wanting it to be on the news,” Kongcheep said. “Anyone can think anything, but I insist that there are no reasons for him to meet with Thaksin.”

The agreement between Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will pave the way for developments on facets such as sufficiency economy, sustainable development, infrastructure, social services and human resources between the two countries.

This year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Since 1954, Japan has offered official development assistance (ODA) for technical cooperation projects in Thailand.

The event on Friday also highlighted the triangular cooperation among the Thai government via TICA and the Japanese government via JICA, in providing technical assistance to build capacity and human resources expertise of other developing counties.

It will also share Thai technology and practice to narrow development gaps in Asean and Mekong-region countries.

At the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Virasakdi Futrakul underlined both countries’ commitment to the Mekong region, including the announcement of the Japan-Mekong Connectivity Initiative.

As Japan’s development partner in the Southeast Asian region, Thailand is also going to chair the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy meeting next year, Virasakdi said.

This will also include bilateral partnerships for “North-South-South Cooperation” in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and also in African countries, he said.

The Partnership Arrangement will support Thailand’s attempt to apply its “philosophy of sufficiency economy” on sustainable development model projects in other developing countries, he added.

Yasushi Tanaka, director-general of JICA’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, said that enhanced development cooperation would also help drive domestic and regional economic initiatives and projects, such as Thailand 4.0 and the Eastern Economic Corridor.

The best way to achieve national reconciliation, 82.9 per cent of the poll respondents said, was for the government to listen to the opinions of all parties.

Less than one-fifth, or 18.4 per cent, of respondents were confident that the idea, floated last week by former Democrat leader Pichai Rattakul, was possible. Some 33 per cent were not so sure that the three biggest parties could band together with the military to run the country, the survey found.

However, 42.8 per cent did not agree with the idea of a national government while 30.8 per cent did. The remaining 26.4 per cent of the people surveyed said they were not sure.

The poll was conducted by Suan Dusit University on 1,140 people from across the country from September 11-15 after the idea of a national government – a solution political elites turn to when the country faces deadlock – resurfaced again.

More than two-thirds, or 68.9 per cent, said a national government was not appropriate for Thai politics. And 63.2 per cent said an election should be held.

Some 54 per cent said it was uncertain whether the idea could be realised and 50.8 per cent said a national government would be undemocratic.

“Gen Prawit has said clearly before that he had not met or talked to [Thaksin],” said Maj-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said on Saturday.

Prawit, meanwhile, said briefly on a phone interview that he was just back from England. The general immediately hung up after the reporter asked about speculation that he had met Thaksin.

Thaksin, whose sister, ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, is believed to have fled the country recently, was taking a vacation in London around the same time as Prawit was meeting with Britain’s defence minister and foreign deputy minister there.

The Defence spokesman insisted that the speculation was not true. Prawit had been in London for work and he was travelling with a big group of officials.

In addition, Kongcheep said he did not think Thaksin and Prawit were in London at the same time.

He believed Thaksin was there after Prawit had already returned to Thailand. It was impossible that the two had met, he added.

“The rumour sparked off even before Gen Prawit’s trip. And when he returned, some people spread the word again deliberately wanting it to be on the news,” Kongcheep said. “Anyone can think anything, but I insist that there are no reasons for him to meet with Thaksin.”

Abhist attended the merit-making rite at Wat Pho Man Kunara on Soi 19 off Sathupradit Road, which was held to celebrate Bhichai’s birthday.

Abhisit was accompanied by two deputy leaders, Ong-arj Klampaibul and Jurin Laksanavisit.

Bhichai hugged Abhisit once the two met, and Abhisit gave him a bouquet and wished him healthy and strong life.

Earlier, Abhisit strongly criticised a proposal by Bhichai for the major political parties to form a national government of unity with junta leaders after the next election. Abhisit said such an idea would be tantamount to an insult to voters.