Wutthipong, or “Ko Tee”, is a firebrand self-styled, anti-junta militant leader and critic of the monarchy.

He fled Thailand after the 2014 coup and settled in Laos – from where he berated the junta in a series of videos and radio broadcasts, often dressed in camouflage outfits.

Thawip said the authorities have not received confirmation Wutthipong is dead, and they have not received updates from Lao authorities on the matter.

He said security authorities are investigating.

Thawip said he personally believes that Wutthipong is still in hiding.

Photos purportedly of Wutthipong’s body have gone viral on social media.

Thawip said people should be cautious about jumping to conclusions as photos can be doctored.

He said the authorities have been in contact with Lao authorities regarding the matter.

He said they will continue to keep tabs on Wutthipong’s network as it is uncertain how reports of his death will affect them.

From gathering all the MP candidates to draw lots in every constituency, collecting and collating the votes for different numbers from across the country, to proving their authenticity would be new challenges for the EC if such a plan came into effect, he said.

It would also be confusing for voters as MP candidates from the same party would be registered with different numbers in each constituency, the commissioner suggested.

The idea was revealed on Sunday when CDC spokesperson Norachit Sinhaseni said that the plan, if it was included in the coming organic law on the election of MPs, should help “create fairness” for all sides.

But the idea is yet to be finalised and political parties are welcome to submit their opinions on the matter to the CDC or the National Legislative Assembly, he added.

The NACC had already contacted the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and requested a copy of the ruling and the individual judgements of each member of the bench to accompany its review.

Its internal legal team will work on the review before submitting its findings to the full NACC for consideration as to whether to appeal the ruling.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) went to the NACC’s office to submit a petition, demanding that the agency appeal the judgement.

Veera Somkwankid, chair of the PAD’s working group following up the petition, was invited for a “talk” by security officers after he had submitted the petition to the NACC. As he posted on his Facebook, Veera warned security officers to show up only after giving prior notice, and not appear at his residence, as the act would cause his family members and neighbours to feel uncomfortable.

He said the government must be held responsible if any bad fortune happens following the meeting.

The Criminal Division for Political Office Holders last Wednesday acquitted then-prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-national police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew.

The four were found not guilty of charges relating to involvement in the October 2008 crackdown that took place in front of Parliament.

Somchai had attempted to enter Parliament to deliver his government’s policies, but was blocked by protesters.

The incident left two people dead and more than 400 injured.

In response to the court verdict, the PAD on Friday held a press conference to declare its stance.

Its key figures made a commitment that the group would explore every legal channel to ensure justice for their comrades.

Some political observers, meanwhile, remain concerned that the yellow-shirt group will resume large street demonstrations.

FEWER MIGRANT workers signed up at government registration centres than expected, with an estimated 40 to 50 per cent of illegal migrant workers participating.

As a result, authorities have cautioned that employers and unregistered illegal workers could face harsh punishments.

Yesterday was the last day of the 15-day period for registering illegal migrant workers.

However, Labour Ministry spokesperson Ananchai Uthaipattanachep said only 674,336 migrant workers had registered, adding that the remaining unregistered migrant workers would have to go back to their countries of origin and come back via the MOU [memorandum of understanding] system if both employers and workers want to avoid being charged.

Ananchai said business-sector estimates put the number of illegal workers in Thailand at around 2 million. The government had expected around 800,000 migrant workers would show up for registration, but less than 700,000 had.

“This 15-day migrant worker registration aims for the employers, who already hired illegal migrant workers, to register their employees and legalise their status,” Ananchai said. “But if they failed to grab this chance, they will have to let their employees return home and import them back in again via the more costly MOU system.

“Or else they may face charges per the new Migrant Worker Emergency Decree.”

The MOU system, based on an agreement between regional governments, is time-consuming and requires employers to work with costly consultants.

Director Sompong Srakaew of the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation said he was not surprised by the low turnout for registration, adding that the outcome was predictable because many business operators were sceptical of the procedure.

“We found that not many employers were registering their workers during the first days of the registration, as many were unsure about the overall procedures and the possible tax problems for their businesses. But we can see that many eventually turned up during the last days of registration,” Sompong said.

‘MOU system too costly’

He also complimented the policy, saying the government had done good work trying to relieve the impact of enforcement of the new migrant worker law.

The registration was also well organised, he said, but cautioned that it could not solve the country’s worker shortage problem.

“In my opinion, the government should open similar registration sessions in the future as an alternative way to bring in legal migrant workers to drive our economy, because bringing in migrant workers via the MOU system is too costly for both workers and small employers,” he said.

Sompong added that severe punishments and the high cost of importing migrant workers would only encourage corruption among officers and benefit intermediaries who charge fees to bring in workers.

Ananchai also said registered workers would now have to pass an interview session with the Labour Ministry to guarantee their employment status with a current employer, after which they would have to pass the Certification of Identity (CI) via the CI one-stop service for workers of their nationalities.

Myanmar migrant workers will be able to go to one of nine CI centres across the country starting on August 24. Cambodian workers will have to go the CI centres in Bangkok, Rayong and Songkhla starting from late August.

However, Lao workers will have to return to their country to certify their identities before coming back to Thailand to finish the procedure.

A CONSTITUTION Drafting Commission (CDC) plan for election candidates to have their own number at the ballot box will not only create confusion among voters but ultimately degrade the political party system’s significance, critics have warned.

The approach, under the draft organic law on the election of MPs, will abolish the past voting practice adopted two decades ago in which all candidates in a political party had the same candidacy number nationwide.

The new CDC plan has caused concern among politicians and academics.

Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said the new practice would tend to obligate voters to concentrate more on individual candidates rather than their parties, given that a party would no longer have a fixed vote number for all of its candidates.

With each party being represented by different numbers in constituencies, the Election Commission would be more burdened in calculating vote counts for each party, Siripan said.

According to the new mixed member apportionment system, votes would also have to be formulated to find proportions for party-list MPs, given that voters would be given only one ballot, allowing them to cast a single vote only for a constituency MP candidate. Siripans said that would erode the role of political parties.

“This may be created out of fear of political parties’ influence, which it has to be managed even to this logistical level,” she said.

Former election commissioner Sodsri Sattayatham said the CDC proposal would scatter the public’s attention regarding political parties, which would eventually obstruct parties from working together in Parliament.

“This will prevent Parliament from creating a one-party government, which follows the charter’s will,” Sodsri said. “But it should be noted that MPs could be elected out of people’s misunderstanding.”

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said that while the one-party-one-number system could emphasise party platforms, the use of different numbers still would not reflect the constitutional intent to emphasise the roles of individual MPs.

Abhisit suggested that the best method would be to eliminate numbers from the voting system and use only candidate names and party logos. Getting rid of numbers would also help to prevent vote-buying targeting people who are uninterested in politics, he added.

Key Chart Thai Pattana Party figure Warawut Silpa-archa, who said he disagreed with the new plan because it was confusing, suggested that the CDC should abolish party-list MPs if they are concerned about political parties’ influence.

That make all MPs constituency-based, Warawut said, which would mean that more constituencies would have to be created.

“More constituencies in the country also means smaller constituencies, enabling MPs to take more care of local people,” he said. “This should better reflect the constitutional will to put importance on each MP, more so than what the CDC is now planning.”

Prajak Klaewklaharn, Bhum Jai Thai Party’s deputy leader, agreed that the different numbers would confuse local voters. “But we can only comply with it if it is enforced,” Prajak said.

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said the new system had been developed to make the individual candidate matter as much as the party during elections.

He added that the approach under the draft organic law on the election of MPs could also prevent vote-buying across the country.

The approach would put an end to the saying that “some parties could field a power pole and still win” in areas where they had a strong base, which was an insult to voters, Meechai said.

“If all constituency candidates share the same number, not only will there be a higher chance of fraud but also voters will not give importance to individual candidates. As a result, candidates will feel as if they are the party’s servants,” Meechai said. “The intention actually is to ensure the MPs are competent, in parallel with the party’s popularity.”

In response to an argument that the new approach could confuse voters, Meechai said people were not illiterate or lacking in understanding of politics. At least, they should be able to recognise the candidates and their affiliations in addition to learning about them prior to the vote, he said.

“It is not right to underestimate them. They can still see the campaign banner and recognise the faces and the names of the candidates anywhere, anytime, even in front of the polling station,” the CDC chairman said. “People have changed a lot. It is not like 30 or 40 years ago when people were illiterate. So, in an election, they have to be aware who they are voting for or have to be enthusiastic.”

The veteran charter writer also denied the argument that the plan could undermine parties’ significance. Supporting political parties did not mean the CDC had to leave a loophole for vote-buying, he said.

However, Meechai also said people having different views could submit opinions to the CDC for consideration.

Chartchai Na Chiangmai, a CDC spokesman, said the unique numbers were intended also to make candidates become more active in the process.

They would have to draw lots or sign up themselves in order to get a number, he said, unlike previously when that was done by the parties.

Besides, this approach might also prevent vote-buying across the country, he said.

The new system would put an end to the saying that “some parties could field an electric pole and still win”, which was insulting to the voting public, Meechai stressed.

The “electric pole” notion is widely used to demonstrate the fact that some voters are so loyal to a party that they will vote for any candidate it fields.

“If all constituency candidates share the same number, not only will there be a higher chance of fraud, but also the voters will not give importance to the individual candidate. As a result, the candidate would feel as though they were the party’s servant,” he said by way of clarification.

“The intention actually is to ensure that the MPs are competent, in parallel with the party’s popularity,” the CDC chief added.

With some having argued that the new approach could confuse voters, Meechai responded that people today were not illiterate or lacking an understanding of politics, unlike in the past.

At least, they should be able to recognise the candidates and their affiliations, in addition to learning about them prior to the vote, he said.

Surasak Treerattrakul, director of the Office of Attorney General’s Department of Investigation, said the prosecutors would meet the deadline of August 15 for submitting the statement, which included thorough details covering all contentious points.

The team was able to pinpoint some questionable facts from the defendants’ witnesses, he said.

It was confident in its findings and statement, but it would be up to the court to judge and rule on the case, he added.

In 2014, Yingluck was accused by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent corruption in the controversial rice-pledging scheme, which was her government’s signature policy.

The trial against her started in January last

The judgment is due to be delivered by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

Pol Colonel Krisana Pattanacharoen said on Monday that the police were in the process of assessing the situation, and could not confirm at this point how much force they would need.

He said they would also look at the intentions of those planning to give moral support in person to the former PM before deciding whether to start any legal proceedings.

Checkpoints will be set up as normal to ensure traffic order, but not to obstruct her supporters “from coming to town”, he added.

The NACC has already contacted the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and requested a copy of the ruling and the individual judgments of each member of the bench to accompany its review.

Its internal legal team will work on the review before submitting its findings to the full NACC for consideration as to whether to appeal the ruling.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Monday went to the NACC’s office to submit a petition, demanding that the agency appeal the judgment.

The Criminal Division for Political Office Holders last Wednesday acquitted then-prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-national police chief Pol-General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol-Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew.

The four were found not guilty of charges relating to involvement in the October 2008 crackdown, which took place in front of Parliament.

Somchai had attempted to enter Parliament to deliver his government’s policies, but was blocked by protesters.

The incident left two people dead and more than 400 injured.

In response to the court verdict, the PAD on Friday held a press conference to declare its stance.

Its key figures made a commitment that the group would explore every legal channel to ensure justice for their comrades.

Some political observers, meanwhile, remain concerned that the yellow-shirt group will resume large street demonstrations.