NACC chairman Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit said major cases that affected the public should be conducted by a team of relevant officials, not only NACC officials.

For instance, investigations into corruption regarding land encroachment or natural resources should include officials from the Royal Forestry Department, the Natural Resources Department and the Department of Special Investigation, Watcharapol said.

The NACC is also asking Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to invoke Article 44 of the interim charter, which gives him sweeping emergency powers, to quickly amend anti-graft laws.

The agency wants the law changed so that 800 newly recruited officials who are in training can take over graft investigations to expedite the prosecution of corrupt individuals.

He said new officials would only investigate less important cases under the supervision of experienced investigators. The NACC’s nine members will also review all cases.

Watcharapol said the NACC was drafting national strategies on anti-graft measures stressing prevention and educating the public. That would be completed in September before it goes to Cabinet for funding.

He said the agency received only or Bt1.8 billion, or 0.067 per cent of the government’s total budget. He urged the government to increase funding to 0.1 or 0.15 per cent of total budget.

Watcharapol expected the government would allocate Bt2.2 billion for the agency in next fiscal year.

“Over the next five years, more investors will come to invest in our country due to less corruption,” he said.

He said a survey by the Thai Chamber of Commerce found that damage to the private sector from having to pay bribes to state officials dropped to 15 per cent of operating costs last year, or Bt170 billion per year. The figure had reached 30 per cent in previous years. A reduction of 1 per cent would mean a Bt10 billion drop in bribes.

Under anti-graft strategies, the NACC aims to increase Thailand’s score on the Corruption Perception Index from 38 in 2015 to 50 next year.

Watcharapol also said he opposed the death sentence for corruption, as it would not yield positive results.

The reporter had deleted the message, so Worawit said he would not bring the matter up again.

“It is over. She deleted the message. She was sweet and now we [Daily News] are OK with it,” Worawit said.

According to ‘Rajdamnern’, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA)’s journal, the TV reporter deleted the message in a bid to end the dispute after Worawit, in response to her criticism, vowed onFacebook to file a suit against her.

The paper posted a series of pictures showing an injured motorist, Jenpop Weeraporn, lying on a hospital bed while authorities escorted him to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court.

On Sunday March 13, Jenpop was the driver of Mercedes-Benz that slammed into the back of a Ford sedan, killing two postgraduates. He was then admitted to Ayutthaya hospital.

Questions have been raised as to whether it was appropriate for the paper to run the picture. Some observers felt that showing it infringed on the patient’s rights, while others thought differently, according to ‘Rajdamnern’.

But the journal quoted Worawit, a former member of the now-defunct National Reform Council’s media reform committee, as saying that patients’ rights only apply to people in hospitals, while the pictures on his newspaper’s website showed the patient outside the hospital.

Meanwhile, former TJA president Prasong Lertratanawisute argued that patient’s rights applied to all patients no matter where they are, the journal said.

It said the National Press Council had sent letters regarding infringement of patients’ rights to media organisations.

Suriyasai Katasila, deputy dean of Rangsit University’s Social Innovation College, yesterday asked why the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) was focusing on the charter stipulating a five-year transition period after the election, and not what it could achieve prior to the election.

He spoke during the “Charter draft and the future of Thailand’s reform” seminar organised by the Green Group and the Campaign for Popular Democracy. “The council has special power to bring about reform. No one wants the country to face uncertainty,” he said. “Has the council built a suitable structure for the country before a general election is held?”

He said the NCPO was leaving reforms to mechanisms specified in the charter because it believed that could bring about reform. “I want the council to announce a clear reform plan with all state agencies moving in the same direction,” he said. “The reform must be excluded from the charter. I want to see a reform roadmap and not a charter roadmap.”

Former Constitution Drafting Committee member Paiboon Nititawan criticised the charter draft over what he said was its lack of a political reform essence.

“The draft focuses on a new election system that does not help reform politics,” he said.

“The charter must stipulate that MP candidates can run in the election without having to pay money but the charter draft stated that they can spend no more than Bt1.5 million on an election campaign.”

However, Paiboon supported the proposal from four core government bodies for the establishment of a large constituency election system with three MP candidates in each constituency.

He said the proposal to have 250 non-elected senators had drawbacks and advantages. Paiboon said the Senate could balance the power of the government, but he disagreed with giving the Upper House the power to censure the government in a no-confidence debate.

“It is a controlling power rather than a balancing power,” Paiboon said.

Paiboon said the country would not achieve reform of state agencies if there were a mindset adopted that the government must first seek the opinions of agencies on the matter. “If the government wants to reform the police and it has to ask the police first, the police will not agree with reform because they are the problem,” he said.

Seree Suwanpanont, the National Reform Steering Assembly’s political committee chairman, said his committee proposed solutions to address the country’s crises without the intention of helping the junta retain power. “The proposal for a non-elected PM needs three-fifths of MPs [supporting it],” he said.

“We also proposed a similar election system as was proposed by the core agencies to prevent capitalists from reaping benefits from politics,” he said.

Abhisit and Suthep, once close political allies who worked together through the political unrest of 2010, became “completely broken apart” early this year after a conflict over Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who is Suthep’s preferred candidate to become the next Democrat leader, according to a key party figure.

Sukhumbhand, who won the gubernatorial election on the Democrat ticket, was accused by the party’s politicians of failing to deal with irregularities involving the city administration. The governor ignored the party leader’s invitation to explain the situation. It was rumoured that Sukhumbhand was planning a new political party with Suthep, but that was denied by both of them.

Suthep is no longer a Democrat member. He quit the party when he headed the anti-government campaign during the tenure of the previous administration led by Yingluck Shinawatra. But he has retained much influence over many of his former Democrat colleagues, particularly those from the South.

The street rallies, which were prompted by a bill for blanket political amnesty that was passed by the Yingluck government, continued for seven months and led to the military coup in May 2014.

Suthep has openly supported the post-coup government and the draft constitution written by the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Commission. His main goal is to get his group’s reform ideas to be included in the new constitution.

Abhisit seems to have been in a difficult position about this matter. He has criticised certain provisions in the draft but has not made it clear whether his party backs the new constitution as a whole.

“The party’s standpoint is that our society should have no confrontation,” he said. “For the Democrats, the best for the country is to get a good constitution. If the draft constitution is rejected in the referendum or if people vote to accept it because they have no choice, that is not good for the efforts to solve the country’s problems. And that means we have wasted the past two years.”

As a political party, the Democrats are supposed to uphold democratic principles and deny dictatorship, the party source said. Abhisit needs to keep a good balance. As the party leader, he has to maintain the democratic principle of not supporting a military dictatorship while keeping good ties with the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

If the Democrats reject the draft constitution entirely, it would mean Abhisit is in open conflict with Suthep, who would have to do a lot of explaining to the NCPO, according to the party source.

Abhisit and his predecessors at the party’s helm, Chuan Leekpai and Banyat Bantadtan, disagree with Suthep’s attempt to have the Democrat Party openly back the draft constitution. And most Democrat politicians do not like it that the NCPO wants a new political structure that would allow the military to have control over politicians, the source said.

The key Democrat figure said it was no secret that the NCPO was paving the way for the political camp opposing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to become the government after the next general election. And the Democrat Party is included in that mix.

But politicians also need to maintain good ties with the military and the People’s Democratic Reform Foundation led by Suthep.

“The Democrats may have to make a political stand as to whether the party sides with the military about the new constitution,” the source said.

There was a sign of reconciliation between Abhisit and Suthep two weeks ago, when Thaworn Senneam, a close Suthep ally, was promoted to become an adviser to the Democrat leader, according to another party figure who declined to be identified.

The move baffled many people in the party, the source said.

Suthep as king maker?

Thaworn’s new office is on the same floor as Abhisit. Thaworn is Suthep’s favourite to become the next Democrat secretary general.

Some Democrat figures view this development as Abhisit’s attempt to get re-elected as the party leader and he needs support from Suthep now that Sukhumbhand is no longer a party leader candidate, the source said.

Democrat figures, particularly those loyal to Abhisit, have tried to resist outside influence from Suthep’s group. But it is difficult to deny the possibility that Suthep could become a “king maker” after the next election.

This, for Abhisit, is even more important than becoming the party leader for another term. His reconciliation with Suthep could give his party a good chance of being part of the new government.