AS A MASSIVE delegation from Japan visits the Kingdom, Thailand expected them to boost investment in infrastructure, particularly for dual-rail, high-speed trains, by next year to steer development in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday.

Other infrastructure projects encouraged by Prayut included ports, aviation and digital systems in line with the 10 new industrial groups targeted to become Thailand’s economic growth engines. “The first five years will focus on these developments. I look to Japan as a good example of train development,” Prayut said.

“In the future, there will also be developments in the West, North and the South. We have to integrate all these plans to connect investments and services, not only among regional provinces but also with CLMV countries,” he said, referring to the grouping of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The Thai government also expected to facilitate development in the EEC by creating fast tracks such as encouraging more “public-private-people” cooperation, he said.

Thailand plans to invest about Bt700 billion to construct and develop infrastructure in the EEC as part of a five-year plan.

The Kingdom also looked forward to new cooperation and exchanges in industry, innovation and technology as well as support for SMEs, the premier said.

With Japanese SMEs contributing greatly to that country’s economy, accounting for more than 90 per cent of businesses in Japan, Prayut said he expected that they and around 3 million Thai SMEs could help to support each other in creating jobs.

Prayut welcomed at Government House yesterday Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Investment, along with 570 high-level Japanese business people, representatives from economic organisations and SME entrepreneurs who are visiting Thailand from yesterday until tomorrow.

Seko referred to Thailand’s crucial role as Asean’s industrial hub, which Japanese companies have utilised for a long time. “The numbers of Japanese research and development facilities in Thailand is one example,” the minister said. “Our economic-centric cooperation is going to step up as high-level industry development.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese business sector had applied for investment privileges worth Bt65 billion, or about half of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in Thailand during first half of this year, said Hirunya Suchinai, secretary-general of Japan’s Board of Investment.

FDI in the first six months of the year was estimated at about Bt120 billion, from Bt291 billion in overall investment, Hirunya said.

The majority of Japanese businesses focused on petrochemical products, electronics and automotive parts, which are in line with the 10 industrial groups Thailand has prioritised, she said

The visit, and Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak ’s previous visit to Japan this year, marked the 130-year relationship between the two countries. Thailand is reforming the economy in line with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Japan 5.0” initiative, in which all aspects of society and industrial production were connected by digital technology, Somkid said.

“When I invited them to visit Thailand, I did not expect the mission would be so large as 500 investors, including executives from Keidanren and Jetro [economic organisations],” Somkid said in an exclusive interview with Thepchai Yong, editor-in-chief of Nation Multimedia Group.

As the Thai economy picks up speed, reaching 3.7-per-cent growth in the second quarter of this year, Japanese investors had more confidence in the economy, he said.

He said the two sides today would sign a memorandum of understanding to cement cooperation in the new “s-curve industries”, EEC investment and human resource development.

Tomorrow, the delegation will visit investment sites in the EEC to mark progress in the economic zone.

“There has never been a Japanese minister visiting investment sites in Thailand, and there is also a deputy governor from Fukuoka joining the trip, suggesting future contact will be not only between central governments but also between local governments on both sides,” said Somkid.

Somkid added that he was confident that the new wave of investment from Japan would ensure that the EEC was not built from scratch, since over the past 40 years Japanese investors had already invested in large projects in the Eastern Seaboard.

However, he conceded that Japanese investors were worried about the shortage of skilled labour.

“It not easy to lead all people into Thailand 4.0 since a large number of labourers are in the agricultural and services sectors,” Somkid said.

The challenge was to balance economic development by promoting tourism and exports, while moving towards a high-value economy driven by higher technology and innovation, according to Somkid.

Asked whether the Japanese mission could adversely affect Thailand’s relationship with China, Somkid said the government would welcome investment missions from China and every other country.

As the global economy shifts to Asia and China, Japan and India are expected to be major production centres, while Thailand is at the centre of the CLMV bloc.

 However, it was still producing “some wind gusts to near hurricane force.”

As of 8 am (1200 GMT), Irma was about 105 miles (170 kilometres) northwest of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 kilometres per hour).

Early reports of Irma’s aftermath seemed to show that damage in Florida from the massive storm were not as bad as initially feared.

Television footage showed trees down and buildings with exterior damage, though people were able to make their way through muddy or lightly flooded streets.

The storm had carved a path of destruction through the Caribbean last week, where it was blamed for at least 27 deaths.

It slammed into the Florida Keys island chain as a powerful Category Four storm on Sunday. Irma was linked to three deaths in Florida.

A view of a street after the Hurricane Irma winds stopped in Miami, Florida, USA, 10 September 2017 (issued 11 September 2017). // EPA-EFE

 An uprooted tree pictured after the full effects of Hurricane Irma hit in Miami, Florida, USA, 10 September 2017 (issued 11 September 2017). // EPA-EFE

They want the police to interview witnesses to the event who they believe would support their contention that participants did not violate the junta’s ban on political gatherings as has been claimed.

Police have so far refused to interview the witnesses, the petitioners wrote.

Chayan Vaddhanaphuti co-organised the July 15-18 forum entitled International Conference on Thai Studies.

He and four conference participants were charged after the four participants, but not Chayan, displayed a banner at the event that read, “This was not a military camp but an academic forum”.

Those charged have met police twice with police to acknowledge the charges against them as well as submitting documents as their evidence against the charges.

Chayan is a respected academic and director of the university’s Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development,

In the petition, the accused insisted on their innocence and requested that prosecutors order the police to collect testimonies from their five witnesses.

The prosecutors responded that they would look into the petition before deciding whether they would indict the five.

Suthep and almost 50 other ex-PDRC leaders still stand accused of sedition for their demonstration in 2013 that pressured the Pheu Thai-led government headed by Yingluck Shinawatra to step down.

They were prosecuted in May 2014, but were not interrogated at the time because their protest had not yet ended.

The prosecutors therefore contacted the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to summon the accused for inquiry and complete a case file, before sending it back to the prosecution service for further processing.

After the demonstration ended, the accused sought justice with the department and – more than three years on – the case is still undergoing the legal process.

Winyat Chatmontree, secretary-general of United Lawyers for Rights and Liberty, has now called for prosecutors responsible for the case to speed up their work as the DSI had already completed its own tasks.

There were no reasons for the prosecutors to delay the process any further, he insisted.

Winyat threatened to bring the case before the National Anti-Corruption Commission if the prosecutors failed to make any progress or report to the lawyers’ group within 15 days of its letter.

Wirun Chanthananan, special prosecutor at the Department of Special Litigation 4, accepted delivery of the letter and said its contents would be considered as well as submitted to the working panel for the case.

The prosecutor explained that the current state of play was that academic opinions were being sought on the case, while officials were deliberating how to handle the matter further.

Wirun said recently that the accused had asked for additional inquiries to be made again, and that officials were working on the request to see whether such a move was needed.

The premier was speaking at the Human Rights for Thailand 4.0 event on Monday organised by the Justice Ministry.

He said the government pays attention to human rights protection and instructs investigations into allegations concerning the issue. However, these allegations need to be delicately handled when it comes to the performance of state officials. The bottom line lies with the law and whether it has been violated, he said.

People, he said, should learn about the law and how it affects their lives. The law will ultimately help protect everyone and ensure equal access to resources, Prayut said.

“It’s not that the poor commit wrongdoings and they will definitely go to jail, while the rich will not. The fact is that the rich have often fled the scene, and that’s why we see that they don’t go to jail. It’s not a problem with the justice system.

“The law is not there to bully anyone. If one commits wrongdoings, he or she must go through it and fight for justice,” said Prayut.

Although he said he was not talking about any particular case, his comments appeared to be a reference to former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled the country before the verdict reading in the negligence case regarding her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

Speculations can, and probably will, go on for some time yet, but the most important questions remain who benefited from Yingluck’s escape and when will she choose to finally emerge from hiding.

Yingluck’s actions leading up to the verdict date had been scrutinised by so many, including her own team, supporters, haters and intelligence officers. Yet she magically vanished shortly before August 25, when she was due to hear the court’s ruling on a case stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

She was last seen in Bangkok on August 23, when CCTV footage showed her lunching with 14 people of her team at the Shinawatra-run SC Park Hotel Bangkok after making merit at Wat Rakhang Khositaram.

Authorities on Friday made the first official confirmation that Yingluck was last seen in a sedan on CCTV at a military checkpoint in Sa Kaew, a border province to Cambodia, that same day.

However, the vehicle’s movements were not captured by additional CCTV cameras, and so there is no proof that it had crossed the border into Cambodia.

It is widely believed that she fled overseas to her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. But then again, where?

The Shinawatras remain oddly silent, only posting social media messages encouraging their missing relative. Thaksin himself hasn’t even asked for justice or explained why Yingluck did not go to hear the final verdict.

The ruling government, meanwhile, has stressed progress of the investigation in vague terms. We’ve almost figured out how and in what way she escaped, police officers said. All still remains ambiguous. The military simply said they haven’t got anything on their hands.

How could they let the highest-profile person of the month escape? Did any of the powers-that-be “facilitate” the runaway? Even asking these questions has irked top-brass officers.

The Shinawatras are tight-lipped. The junta is reluctant to speak on this topic, but eager to discuss other issues. Despite this, they both can reap benefits from Yingluck’s absence from Thailand.

For the business-political clan, their beloved Yingluck won’t have to risk being jailed. While imprisonment could have turned her into an icon of democracy, that would be a second choice behind freedom.

The Shinawatras will pay a heavy price in the political arena, some say. However, Yingluck’s move overseas means that she can do as she wishes without being constrained by either the junta or by the fallout from the rice-pledging scheme.

If she chooses to seek political asylum, it would send out a message to the world how she was unfairly treated by Thai politics. Her tale could lead to more slamming of the junta by international leaders and bodies. Her domestic supporters will accept whatever explanations she gives for her flight. The junta could also benefit from her escape.

“Why not accept justice if you were not doing anything wrong?” they will publicly ask of Yingluck for a long time.

Whatever overseas actions the Shinawatras might take could backfire domestically by increasing political conflict within the nation, and leading to some arguing that a military dictatorship is a “necessity” to keep the Kingdom together.

PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha trailed Thaksin in popularity in a recent poll from King Prajadhipok’s institute, but that’s the least of the junta’s concerns.

During their three years of rule, they have succeeded in rendering politicians as “obstacles” to national development in the public mind. International pressure may occur, but the junta have not been bothered by that since coup d’etat day. Information control and selective narratives are frequently fed to domestic audiences, lessening any likelihood of an uprising.

The more Yingluck stays silent, the more she will be attacked. September 27, when a verdict is scheduled to be read without her presence, could be the most appropriate moment for her to strike back.

It’s not hard for Yingluck, or anyone for that matter, to anticipate the verdict. She might take this opportunity to feed supporters with her own selective narrative to explain what happened, justifying why she thought it necessary to abandon her long-lasting fight for justice.

That opportunity is fleeting, and if it passes without comment, who knows when Yingluck will be powerful enough to counter again.

Three quarters (75 per cent) of survey respondents think that the Pheu Thai Party will have a difficult time campaigning at the next election and will have only a slim chance of leading a governing coalition after its leader Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country.

According to the Suan Dusit Poll released yesterday, some 70.2 per cent said that Pheu Thai could suffer internal divisions now that Yingluck is gone, and 80.9 per cent think the party will need new leaders.

Nearly two-thirds, or 60.4 per cent, of respondents said the absence of the former prime minister could shake the party’s popularity, while 58.8 per cent said that it might also need new policies and strategies.

The survey was conducted by Suan Dusit University from September 4-8, with 1,187 people nationwide asked about their thoughts on Thai politics after Yingluck skipped the verdict-reading in her court case involving her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

The poll also looked at impacts on other political parties, including Pheu Thai’s arch-rival, the Democrat Party. Some 71.1 per cent of respondents thought that the Democrats could become an alternative for voters.

Two-thirds (67.7 per cent) of the respondents thought that Yingluck’s flight from the verdict set an example to others to refrain from corruption. And 48 per cent said that other parties could now have a chance to win elections.

The majority of the people surveyed – 77.3 per cent – agreed that they would have to wait and see how Thai politics would go now that Yingluck had fled.

Meanwhile, the junta is preparing to hold its first official press conference on the investigation into Yingluck’s escape route and any potential accomplices. Rumours continue to abound that the military deliberately let her slip the country.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has reportedly instructed officers to speed up their work and complete their investigation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered officers to hold a press conference on the investigation after revelations on Friday that Yingluck had been seen in Sa Kaew province in a sedan near a military checkpoint close to Cambodian border. This occurred less than 48 hours before the scheduled delivery of the final verdict on the rice-pledging case on August 25.

Officers were searching for the driver of the sedan, according to reports.

Prawit said yesterday that he believes Yingluck fled the country with help from people inside Thailand, but he had no idea who they might be. However he also claimed that the investigation had progressed.

Meanwhile, security sources gave conflicting information about the checkpoint where Yingluck was last seen.

A security source said that the checkpoint was under the responsibility of the Burapha Force and was mostly busy. Security measures were tougher for arrivals than departures because officers had to focus on illegal immigrants, he said.

The vehicles departing the country would be searched only if they were suspicious or there had been prior notification by other forces, he said, adding that the Yingluck’s sedan had not been on the watch list. “It’s impossible for officers to check every car leaving the country because we have to consider the impact on the people, too,” the source said.

“Every checkpoint has the same standard. Unless we were notified of a person’s flight or of any suspicious vehicles, we would not step up measures against people departing the country,” he said.

Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisat had not passed down any orders regarding the matter, he said.

Another high-ranking security source asserted that the checkpoint seen in the footage was not that of the Burapha Force.

But he admitted that it would have been difficult for officers to do anything or apprehend her if they had really found Yingluck at that time. It was before the verdict day and she was still regarded as innocent, he explained.

As to speculation that Yingluck fled through Cambodia, the source said this would be impossible unless she was allowed to do so by officials there. He did not think the former PM would have fled via the natural land border, because it was “all forest and mountains with hidden land mines”. It was unlikely that she would take such a route, he said.

In his September 8 Facebook post, Panthongtae also cited Thaksin’s earlier post alleging that the Thai justice system had been abused by the authorities to prosecute members of the Shinawatra family.

Panthongtae added that leaked documents show Prayut had ordered officials to speed up lawsuits against those charged over the previous Yingluck government’s rice-pledging scheme with no regard to checks-and-balance mechanisms in the justice system.

Unless criminal and other related charges are quickly processed, current officials at key government agencies concerned with these cases will be held responsible, according to Panthongtae, who is also facing a separate criminal investigation into alleged money-laundering in connection with a massive fraud at Krungthai Bank.

Panthongtae said another leaked document shows that a deputy chief of the  Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was recently transferred to the PM’s Office after refusing to file the money-laundering charge against him. This unnamed DSI official told a government ethics committee that he had received an order from his superior to file the charge against the ex-premier’s son but he did not believe that there was anything illegal concerning Panthongtae’s financial transaction.

Panthongtae was earlier named as the person who recieved a Bt10-million cheque from Rachada Krisadathanont of real estate developer Krisada Mahanakorn Group, which was one of the key defendants in the Krungthai Bank fraud case. Several former bank executives and others have already been sentenced by the courts to lengthy jail terms for causing multi-billion-baht damages to the state-owned bank. In his Facebook post, Panthongtae said he was the victim of a witchhunt by the government since other potential suspects who also received large amounts of money in the loan case were not subject to intense scrutiny.

He said the Bt10-million cheque represents only a tiny fraction of the entire amount of the multi-billion-baht fraudulent loans. According to Panthongtae, the money was part of a joint business venture and it had already been returned.

Besides Panthongtae, other persons close to the Shinawatra family were among suspects who received funds in connection with the Krungthai Bank case.

Viroj Nualkhair, a former chief executive of Krungthai Bank, was among those convicted in this case after the bank’s top management approved the fraudulent loans while Thaksin was prime minister.

Meanwhile, Pinthongta Shinawatra, a daughter of Thaksin and sister of Panthongtae, expressed her moral support to Panthongtae in an Instagram post.

In the latest development, the DSI said it will wrap up the case against Panthongtae within a month and expects to summon the ex-premier’s son for questioning during which he could provide evidence to counter the agency’s money-laundering case.

Sansern said including in the survey “an ex-prime minister who had been guilty of crimes and is now a fugitive might be inappropriate”.

“It could cause confusion to the people who might see that disrespecting the law and corruption are acceptable,” he said yesterday.

He was referring to a recently revealed survey by King Prajadhipok’s Institute which showed that the now-fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra was more popular during his premiership than Prayut is during his current time in office.

Sansern said: “The PM said that we have to be cautious in presenting some information that could cause conflict in society. And he said to tell everyone to read carefully, and that they cannot rely only on the headline to interpret the whole thing.”

However, the Institute had earlier explained that it had only presented the popularity and credibility ratings of each prime minister at the time they were in office.

The Institute said it was not valid to make comparisons, as many people had done, because the premierships occurred in different periods under different circumstances. It noted that the study also included prime ministers other than Prayut and Thaksin.

Late last month, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders handed former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom a 42-year sentence for approving four bogus government-to-government rice export deals with China which cost the treasury massive losses. The court rejected a bail application from his family.

Corrections Department director general Kobkiat Kasiwiwat said Boonsong had been able to adapt himself and his blood pressure was now normal.

Earlier, Boonsong, who is being detained in Klong Prem Central Prison, was allowed to go to the Central Prison Hospital to seek medical treatment after he developed a severe headache, which turned out to be a symptom of high blood pressure.

In another case, the Supreme Court has rejected bail petitions from celebrated former TV news host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda in a bribery and embezzlement case involving commercial air time on the state-owned public broadcaster Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand.

The Lower and Appeal Court handed down a jail term of 13 years and four months to Sorrayuth.

Krit Krasaethip, chief of the Bangkok Remand Prison, said that Sorrayuth was not stressed and had been able to adjust himself and eat. He does his private daily routine and chats with fellow prisoners, Krit said. His relatives, colleagues and lawyer often visited him.

Sorrayuth is detained in the first zone at Bangkok Remand Prison.

Earlier, the chief warden said he wanted to put Sorrayuth in a public relations job while in detention. But Krit said he has not assigned any job to the former TV host because his case was not yet finalised, with the possibility of further action in the Supreme Court.