Nan Governor Suwat Promsuwan reacted to the Facebook post by writing that he would be the enemy of all people who blamed Nan province without proposing any solutions, as they were “keyboard brats”. On the other hand, he has 500,000 rai of land for them to plant trees. He deleted the post later and wrote a new one clarifying what he and the authorities had done for the forest.

In reaction, Apisit Joeyboy Opasaimlikit wrote: I am neither a keyboard brat nor a Nan province citizen, but if the governor wants some help, I, as well as many people, are ready to give support physically, morally and financially. Only if you may allow. #NanNgai #WeAreAll Thai. He also posted that he used to raise funds when Thailand faced the great floods in 2011. They had a cash balance of Bt388,653 left over for public use in the time of an emergency or when required. He thought it was time to use the money.

Meanwhile, Suharit Siamwalla posted that he would contribute Bt500,000 for tree plantation in the Nan areas damaged by corn plantation.

Pongsa Chunam wrote that he wanted to whisper into Joey Boy’s ears that the problems of the Nan forest could certainly be solved if people did not condemn the people of Nan as evil or just blamed the officers or the corn companies. The land should be kept public and the people should manage it. “Farm plants should be replaced with other plants that can make money… Set up some funds and take care of the trees. Pay the people who takes care of the trees at five per cent of the trees’ value for 10 years.”

Pat Hemasuk wrote: “We have leaders, net idols, money, volunteers to plant trees, and also young plants to grow. What about water? Has anyone thought about this or just plant the trees, show two fingers, take photos and go home?”

An article appearing on http://www.Vcharkarn.com about Pol Sub-Lietenant Wichai Suriyut, who volunteered to grow over 3 million trees in 1988, has been recirculated.

Meanwhile, Kapook.com also shared ThaiPBS’s feature clip titled, “Do you know where the forest in Nan has gone?”

Some social media users commented that those posts were not well balanced and people should help solve the problems rather than blame each other.

Another popular post came from Chophaka Viriyanont. She posted pictures of how Thai authorities handled the conflicts between transportation lanes and big trees: they cut the trees, while in the case of a foreign country the tree was made a tunnel for vehicles to pass.

Marm Viroj shared a post about plant seed capsules (plant seeds put inside drug capsules to be planted easily) and wrote, “Innovation is more useful than verbal discourse”.

Big Trees shared an article on Yacouba Sawadogo, the man who changed the desert in Africa to a green land.

Nash Siamwalla wrote: “Raising awareness is just as important as raising trees. Salvaging Thai forest is the duty of all Thais.”

Somdej Ya (Princess Mother) Fanpage shared many ideas and experience of people who helped revive Thai forests, including the late Princess Mother’s Doi Tung project. It quoted her: “When people are hungry, forests disappear. Growing a forest then has to start with raising people.”

Bazdude shared a picture of environmental activist Sasin Chalermlarp and wrote, “The whole nation paid attention to [a clip of ] a girl who swore rudely “fucking…” every ten seconds over her stolen sticky rice and chicken. But nobody listens to a man who has been trying to shout politely that the watershed forests of Thailand are missing.

F****** Thailand.”

The “Like It, Share It” column realises that there are too many issues for Thai people to pay attention to right now.

The NLA, as tasked under the 2014 interim charter, came up with one question to go with the draft – whether the selected Senate should be involved in selecting a prime minister along with the Lower House during the five-year transitional period after the next election.

It is widely feared the unprecedented process would open the door for a non-elected prime minister.

The Constitution Drafting Commission earlier expressed its preference not to share its forums nationwide with the NLA, for fear the question could confuse voters.

They have agreed to share the forums, and the NLA panel yesterday held a meeting to discuss how the public relations for the question should proceed.

Surachai Liengboonlertchai, NLA vice president and the chair of the panel, said the panel had come up with the draft regarding its public relations procedures as well as the summaries to explain to the public.

He said the summaries would explain to the public at the shared forums why the NLA has proposed the question.

He said this was because the prime minister would lead the reform efforts.

It was also needed because to achieve reform with sustainable results in line with the national strategy, it could take up to five years.

Surachai said another factor for the question’s necessity was the fact that the selected Senate would be a body tasked with helping ensure the success of the reform process and the national strategy.

Also, he said the NLA was tasked with tabling a question under the interim charter, while the National Reform Steering Assembly had proposed the question and the NLA had finalised it as tasked.

Allowing the Senate to help select a prime minister would also ensure that certain mechanisms were put in place to bring about reform during the five-year transitional period.

Surachai said the CDC had divided areas nationwide for the charter draft public relations campaign into nine provincial clusters.

There are eight clusters around Lop Buri, nine clusters around Chon Buri, eight clusters around Prachuap Khiri Khan, 10 clusters around Udon Thani, 10 clusters around Buri Ram, seven clusters around Phuket, eight clusters around Chiang Mai and nine clusters around Phitsanulok.

Fin-tech start-up investment value in Southeast Asia, not least in Thailand, is expected to grow five- or six-fold annually in the coming years.

Dave McClure, founding partner at 500startups, a global venture-capital firm based in Silicon Valley in the US, said fin-tech ranked alongside edu[cation]-tech and real-estate tech in terms of the leading sectors for start-up investment potential.

Yesterday, the global venture-capital fund, together with its Thailand fund – 500 TukTuks – announced its first investment in a Thai fin-tech start-up, in a enterprise called T2P Company, a five-year-old start-up.

The investors did not, however, reveal the investment amount.

Thailand is a high-potential country for start-up investment, McClure said.

“We are the most active investors in the fin-tech industry, and T2P is our first [Thai] investment in this field. T2P’s peer-to-peer platform is an interesting service,” he added.

500 Startups’ investment structure consists of a main fund, with 4th-batch values totalling $200 million, and micro-funds of around $10 million-$30 million each.

The micro-funds are divided into country funds, of which there are currently 11, including 500 TukTuks in Thailand, and category funds – mobile and fin-tech.

Krating Poonpol, fund manager of 500 TukTuks, said 70 per cent of the successful start-ups in 500 Startups’ investment portfolio entailed expertise in a specific domain with the potential to grow 15-fold times per year, with fin-tech the best former among them.

“Fin-tech is currently a global phenomenon, a revolution that is forecast become an industry worth about $400 billion in 2025,” he said.

500 TukTuks yesterday also announced batch-2 investment in 10 more start-ups – four of them fin-tech start-ups – with combined funding of $1 million, and the company plans to announce investments in two more fin-tech start-ups soon.

Krating added that 500 TukTuks’s investment aimed to invest in 500 start-ups in Thailand by the end of the decade, having launched its first batch last year with a total fund size of $12 million. It is presently invested in 20 start-ups, and aims to increase this number to 30 by the year’s end.

500 TukTuks will launch its second batch of funding worth $20 million next year, followed by a third batch worth $30 million and a fourth worth $100 million in subsequent years.

Founded in 2011, T2P – a 500 TukTuks batch-2 investment – announced yesterday that it was receiving $1.1 million from three investors: Benchachinda Holding, a group of companies engaged in telecommunication businesses; 500 Startups; and 500 TukTuks.

The three venture-capital operators are taking a combined 20 per cent of T2P shares, with the founders holding the remaining 80 per cent.

T2P’s core business is to provide e-wallets for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.

It has provided a B2B e-wallet for corporates since 2011 through products such as cash cards and loyalty cards.

Its B2B e-wallet is used at 1,500 physical outlets by almost 1 million subscribers.

Yesterday, T2P Company launched its new service, a B2C e-wallet called DeepPocket, in a bid to capture a market gap among the unbanked – 30 per cent of the population – and “un-credit card” (less than 20 per cent) segments.

Chief executive officer Taweechai Purithip said DeepPocket is a mobile app serving as a mobile e-wallet to allow users to store up to Bt50,000 to pay for online services.

DeepPocket is initially set to facilitate gamers by making their spending more convenient, while the service will generate revenue via a transaction fee.

“In 2015, revenue generated by T2P Company was Bt10 million, but with the launch of DeepPocket we aim for revenue of between Bt30 million and Bt40 million this year. The B2C e-wallet will contribute around 30 to 40 per cent, but in the next year, B2C e-wallet revenue will surpass that of the B2B e-wallet,” Taweechai said.

The beauty of DeepPocket is its social e-money feature that allows users to pool their friends and family in their DeepPocket, from which they can instantly borrow e-money easily from their network, at a maximum of Bt50 per friend, in case they have less e-money than the actual purchase cost, he explained.

He called on the provincial governors to be instrumental in making that happen.

Speaking yesterday at the assignment of the Pracha Rath (People’s State) policy and the guidelines for its implementation, Prayut said the government sector must lead the nation’s development with the support of the public and the social sector.

He said that to solve problems from the grass roots there must be good understanding of the capabilities of each sector to boost incomes to a sufficient level.

“What we start today is having a big flashlight to lead the way and seeing all the problems together,” he said.

He said the governors were the key mechanism for driving the economy.

He said people, particularly farmers, had to understand Thailand’s problems to boost the nation’s competitiveness, stability and safety.

“We must help carry out the nation’s reforms in key structures. This cannot wait,” he said. “All [the policy’s elements] are scheduled for implementation before 2017.”

Prayut reiterated that the work should be done without conflict. Reform starts with individuals and seeing others with fairness, he added.

Prayut urged people to participate in resolving conflicts, as not doing so now could result in them snowballing and reaching a flash point later.

“Today, we team up for the development of the grass-roots economy,” he said. “There are no more grass roots – there are only main roots. All the people can bring about strong trees.”

He said good management was essential in making this happen, with strong public relations in broader aspects in particular.

He called on the governors to improve occupational groups that can be developed, while emphasising there should be no conflicts of interest.

“If there’s any issue, there could be talks. Don’t be afraid. We are all sisters and brothers in the nation,” he said. “If we all respect the law, there’s nothing [to fear].

“The nation lives in the law, and equality is the law. Don’t bring the nation into more violence.”

He said that if problems could not be solved outright, there should be adjustment to make them less severe.

He urged civil servants not to be fearful as they were key for the success of the state. “You must be strong. Today, I will strengthen your structure.”

The EC said people must also be mindful of other factors such as orders issued by the National Council for Peace and Order.

The media is free to deliver any coverage so long as it is truthful and neutral, said Thanit Sriprateth, EC deputy secretary-general.

The guidelines follow a public call for the EC to clarify the recently enacted referendum bill, which stipulates strong penalties for wrongdoers of up to 10 years in jail and/or a Bt200,000 fine. Thanit said anyone could file complaints with police over such wrongdoings.

6 Dos

l Base personal comments on study and research of the constitution draft and other relevant elements.

l Comment with good manners

l Comments should be supported by clear information, without distortion of the facts.

l Any citation should be in line with academic principles as a complement to one’s comments.

l Any comment to traditional media must have at least one supporting reason.

l Post information on websites or the electronic media with supporting reasons.

8 Don’ts

l Interviews with false information or aggressive, harsh, rude, seditious, or threatening manners.

l Posting or sharing false information on websites or the electronic media.

l Making or sending a symbol or marking that is aggressive, harsh, rude, seditious, or threatening.

l Organising seminars or discussions without the participation of state agencies, educational institutions, or a legal media body.

l Campaigning in a T-shirt, putting up banners, pinning brooches, flying flags, tying ribbons, or using any marking to express an opinion that could incite people.

l Issuing leaflets or brochures with false, aggressive, harsh, rude, seditious, or threatening messages.

l Reporting news that could lead to incitement or social turmoil.

l Campaigning to influence the public vote, or obstructing voting.

The two groups and fellow netizens attacked the websites by constantly pressing the F5 key on computer keyboards to refresh the Web pages, causing long delays and crashes.

V for Vendetta has been reactivated to oppose the military-installed government.

The government is not being truthful about the purpose of the national referendum, the group said.

V for Vendetta said its members would vote against the charter in the referendum. In 2013, the group had called on the military to oust the Shinawatra government.

Its symbol, a white mask, is inspired by the movie “V for Vendetta” (2005), which depicted a people’s movement against a corrupt government. The anti-single gateway group came into existence late last year when the government proposed the move, which was widely seen as an attempt to crack down on anti-military groups.

In a related development, yesterday’s planned silent protest at the BTS Chong Nonsi skywalk failed to materialise after only one person showed up.

That person, Sirawith Serithiwat, barely spent a minute at the site unsuccessfully calling for people to stand beside him. Clearly upset, Sirawith called the activity off, saying: “If no one joins me then I’m leaving now.”

Sirawith condemned the government for detaining eight civilians.

He urged the public to protest non-violently and call for the military to release the eight.

Police took him to Yannawa Police Station amid calls for him to be left alone as he could not have violated the junta’s ban on political gatherings of more than four people because he was the sole protester.

Police said they would make a note of Sirawith’s activity but would not charge him.