The EC said yesterday state agencies linked to the song had no intention of discriminating against any group of people, as has been alleged by critics of the song.

The agency said the revision of the song’s lyrics was “for the public contentment”.

Critics said the original lyrics suggested that people from the North and the Northeast were politically naive or even gullible. The two regions are viewed as the main political strongholds of the Shinawatra camp.

EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn announced yesterday that the revised song had been submitted to the agency and would be launched today.

He denied the revision meant the agency admitted to fault concerning geographical discrimination. Rather, he said, the change showed the EC cared about public sentiment and was willing to do anything to cheer people up.

The revised version still features four regional dialects but refers to Thais as a whole rather than by specific regions.

Commenting on an anti-charter song produced by the activist group Resistant Citizen, Somchai said the EC would submit a statement concerning lyrics containing allegedly false information about the constitution for the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) to judge. The CDC’s verdict would be considered before the EC proceeded with legal action against the group, he added.

Besides false messages, the song also allegedly includes inappropriate language that is open to debate, Somchai said.

He said the media would have to judge for themselves whether the lyrics were rude and whether they should broadcast or report them to the public.

He emphasised that people spreading the message would be held responsible should a court find the song violates the referendum law.

Resistant Citizen announced last week it would perform in front of the EC’s office at 4pm tomorrow in protest against the perceived unfair criticism of the video featuring the song and dancing.

Somchai said the group had the right to do so and such action would not violate the referendum law, which prohibits only the “spreading” of “false”, “rude” or “intimidating” messages via the mass media and the Internet.

The press, however, would have to be careful reporting the issue, he said.

Somchai also expressed concern for the group because it planned to protest in the afternoon when many civil servants leave work, so the action could stir discontent if it causes traffic problems.

While reiterating that the group could perform the song, he recommended that it changes the time of the protest.

In a related development, Somchai said 17 out of 20 digital TV channels agreed to air an EC-sponsored programme on the referendum and the charter to help to disseminate information.

WorkPoint Channel declined the request for legal reasons, while two other stations would inform the EC next week, he said.

Somchai said channels were free to produce the programmes of their own and invite both opponents and proponents of the draft charter to appear.

He suggested people such as former minister Chaturon Chaisang and “red shirt” leaders Nattawut Saikua and Jatuporn Prompan as potential commentators opposing the draft, while anyone from the CDC could serve as supporters.

Somchai also complimented Nattawut’s recently released folk song about the constitution, saying the song was constructive and reasonable.

He added that he did not personally think the song violated the referendum law, but the EC would consider any complaints filed against it.

“If they want to set up the centre they can but do not break the law. If they get together and break the law, we will look into it,” he said yesterday.

“What do I gain if there are frauds to rig the charter draft to pass or not pass the referendum?” he said.

UDD leaders have said that after setting up the centre to monitor for fraud in the August 7 referendum, they would invite the United Nations, the European Union and foreign embassies in Thailand to the centre.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said he would not allow the centre to be set up. “The referendum is our internal affairs. Why would they have to bring others in?” he said.

Prawit said the country had the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission to monitor for referendum fraud.

“Please stop, I plead with you,” he said. “If the UDD still go ahead, I will take legal action.

“Our country will be in turmoil. Then why would we have these agencies in the country? Please be confident that we want the country to move forward.”

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that national security agencies may have information about the anti-fraud centre that may warrant the centre being banned, but the public referendum law did not ban such a facility.

He said orders by the National Council for Peace and Order did not only ban a political gathering of more than five people. “If a political gathering is carried out on behalf of a centre behind closed doors, we do not know what their discussion is about,” he said.

THE referendum on the military-sponsored charter draft has hit shaky ground with the Constitution Court due to rule on a dubious clause in the referendum law, the red shirts setting up centres to monitor fraud during the voting, plus controversial lyrics in a song for the Election Commission. Meanwhile, a survey has suggested that more than half of Thais have no faith in the charter.

These factors including questions about the role of the Election Commission suggest that the coming referendum could renew political conflict, according to Suriyasai Katasila, deputy dean of the College of Social Innovation at Rangsit University.

“I am not sure if there will be a referendum and not sure if the country will be steered into reform mode and get out of conflicts,” Suriyasai said.

The Constitution Court has agreed to a request by the Ombudsman’s Office to rule on whether Article 61 of the referendum law violates the 2014 Interim Charter.

And a noted composer who wrote the song ‘Participate in August 7 Referendum’ said yesterday the Election Commission (EC) will meet tomorrow to decide if the song’s lyrics should be altered.

Phra Sanyaluk Donsri, who wrote the song for the EC, posted on his Facebook page that the commission will discuss whether the song’s lyrics should be adjusted to allay public criticism, at a meeting tomorrow.

Key EC members have denied that the song insults anybody, saying there was no need to suspend it. Part of the lyrics say: “Isaan brothers, don’t let anyone dictate your decision. Use your judgement, look at content and important principles. Exercise your voting right, take responsibility for the country. Get to know yourself and others. Do not let others cheat you.”

Critics have claimed the song replays a discourse labelling people from the North and Northeast as low quality voters who allowed politicians to manipulate their political decisions. The song praised southerners for having high spirit in the struggle for democracy. It was southerners who dominated the street protest against the Yingluck Shinawatra government before the 2014 coup.

While the EC is campaigning for the national referendum on the draft charter on August 7, most people do not know how the new charter will affect them, according to a recent Dusit Poll.

Of 1,182 people surveyed nationwide from Monday to Saturday, 53 per cent did not know what the charter would do for them, but 46 per cent knew the charter was the country’s supreme law and meant to protect their rights and liberty. Some 80 per cent did not know what the ramifications of the new charter may be in relation to their voting rights, while 18 per cent knew that people over 18 have the right to vote, express their opinion and participate in politics.

About 56 per cent did not know what reforms the government was planning, but the rest knew that the government was reforming the economy, education, transport, politics, administration and other areas to address social ills such as drugs.

Around half believed the new charter would not improve their well-being because that takes time and the country’s economy is still in the doldrums.

Some 36 per cent believed the charter would improve their lives because national reforms would help lift business confidence, boost the economy and steer the country on a stable and sustainable path.

About 12 per cent believed the new charter would worsen their life because politicians put self-interest before public interest and the country may face political turmoil after.

Meanwhile, members of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) and National Legislative Assembly (NLA) suspect the red shirts’ anti-referendum fraud centres have a hidden agenda. The NRSA’s political reform panel spokesman Wanchai Sornsiri said the red shirts’ United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) had an agenda to jeopardise the referendum.

National Legislative Assembly member Somjet Boonthanom said the UDD’s plan was to stage an uprising against the junta.

UDD co-leader Nattawut Saikuar vowed to continue operating the centres. He called on the military to stop threatening their members, as they had not broken any laws.

Promoting the referendum’s content, the responsible panels – the Constitution Drafting Commission and the National Legislative Assembly – are working on a huge public relations scheme involving hundreds of thousands of people trained to be speakers. They will explain to voters the subjects of the referendum, which today is the nation’s most significant political issue, both directly and indirectly.

The votes in the plebiscite will not only dictate the future but also in part reflect people’s thoughts on the past two years of military-led rule. Therefore, the political atmosphere will become intense in the run-up to the referendum as interested parties as well as ideological groups move vigorously to secure a referendum outcome that they consider favourable.

The problems, however, lie in the disparity between the regime and its antagonists, with the former richer in resources, including the power to restrain the latter. The question that will persist after the vote is how such monopolised and one-way communication will shape the referendum results.

Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn has told The Nation that the agency was well aware of the issue and had attempted to overcome it by proposing to support public engagement in campaigning for and against the charter draft. However, that plan has not been approved, he said.

Somchai expressed concerns about the PR scheme of sending the so-called Kru Kor, Khoh and Khor – representing charter spokespeople at the provincial, district and tambon levels – to disseminate information about the charter draft. He said he was not certain how well these representatives could fulfil their tasks.

The election commissioner’s greatest fear was that these speakers will fail to inform voters of the charter’s content and eventually voters will not be able to make a decision based on the merits of the constitution, but instead will be swayed by political factors.

Thammasat University political science lecturer Attasit Pankaew viewed the issue similarly, saying that such a monopolised PR scheme would result in voters receiving insufficient information and ultimately could lead to the public disrespecting the referendum’s outcome.

He said it was undeniable that there are quite a few people who have no interest in politics and remain unaware of the importance of the political situation. If the powers-that-be keep monopolising public information campaigns, and do not allow other groups to help to campaign, the chances are that many voters will not receive the necessary information, he added.

Attasit concluded that the regime could face the public’s rejection of the referendum results if it does not allow free and fair campaigning by all parties.

For Siripan Noksuan Sawasdee, a Chulalongkorn University elections expert, holding a referendum is based on the idea that sovereignty belongs to the people who have the power to make the final decision on crucial issues involving major national interests – such as a constitution, specific laws or public policy.

The scholar said both proponents and opponents of the referendum’s content should have equal opportunities to express their views, or the entire process faces legitimacy problems.

She added that responsible agencies should refrain from playing a part in disseminating, campaigning, providing information or persuading voters to exercise their rights. Otherwise, the campaign could lose its neutrality.

Siripan cited the referendum campaign song sponsored by the Election Commission, which could be seen as an attmept to persuade voters to approve of the draft, with lyrics suggesting that the constitution would bring about reconciliation and development, which people should help to support.

The move followed a statement issued on Thursday by LEMPAR (Lembaga Patani Raya untuk kedamaian dan pembangunan) and Human Rights Watch in which they called for the government to provide justice and respect the principle of human rights as well as drop the lawsuits against the three activists.

The forward command spokesman Colonel Pramote Phrom-in told a press conference yesterday that Anchana Heemmina, head of the Hearty Support Group – which comprises families of people detained and prosecuted on national security charges in the deep South – had requested a probe be launched into the torture allegations.

Pramote said Anchana made the request on January 8 to General Aksara Kerdphol, the Thai team leader in peace negotiations in the restive region, and Fourth Army Region chief Lt-General Wiwat Pathompak.

On February 10, he said the group, together with the Cross Cultural Foundation and the Patani Human Rights Organisation Network, launched a report about alleged torture and inhumane treatment of people in the deep South in 2014 and 2015 at Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus. The report was widely published via the media.

“The Fourth Army Region chief had instructed related agencies to probe the allegations with transparency to punish the wrongdoers and to improve operations to boost acceptance among general public,” he said.

He added that the groups also asked the National Human Right Commission to help with the probe.

Out of the 54 cases cited in the report, the fact-finding committee could only identify 18 individuals and they didn’t find any credible evidence suggesting they had been tortured, he said.

Anchana was invited to join the authority’s meeting on February 14 while the agency asked for information about the persons cited in the report several times but didn’t get co-operation, he said.

Pramote said the authorities regarded the lack of co-operations as an intention to conceal information and use the alleged victims as a tool to produce the report, with there being desire from their side to see a fact-finding probe set up to facilitate remedial measures and a solution.

The publishing of the report through the media without proper fact-checking could lead to a misunderstanding in society that affects operative officers’ and the Isoc Region 4 Front Command’s reputations, he added.

Therefore the agency believes it is necessary to rely on the law and the course of justice to determine the facts in court, he added.

He said he was confident that if there were authentic evidence, the producers of the report would reveal it in court.

“But if they weren’t true or fabricated, the report producers deserve legal punishments as they would be deemed the violators of the rights and integrity of state officers and agencies that sacrificed to reduce conditions for violence in the region,” he said.