A NEW rule requiring more holders of important public positions to declare their assets to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has triggered such serious concerns that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has decided to intervene.

The premier’s intervention occurred even before the new rule, promulgated in the Royal Gazette on November 1, takes effect on December 2.

“I have now assigned Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, though unofficially, to explore solutions with the NACC,” Prayut said yesterday.

He was speaking after several universities complained that the new rule threatened to cause a power vacuum in their administration, as several council members were ready to quit.

“Nearly half of the council members at my place have tendered their resignations,” president of Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Viroj Limkaisang, complained. “This will disrupt our management. Without a quorum, we won’t be able to make decisions on several issues. And it will take time to fill positions at the council.”

Under the new rule, the scope of persons required to declare their assets/liabilities to the NACC will extend far beyond political-office holders like Cabinet members, senators, MPs, local administrative bodies’ executives, Bangkok governor, the attorney-general and the president of Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court. Presidents of state universities and their council members, as well as top executives of public organisations and state funds, and the chiefs of Armed Forces including the police force, for example, will also have to file their asset declarations to the NACC.

So far, protests have been the loudest from the higher-educational sector.

Education Minister Teera-kiat Jareonset-tasin said his ministry would raise the concerns with the NACC because many university council members came from the private sector.

“They don’t want to file asset declarations. If the new rule is enforced, they will leave,” he said.

According to Teerakiat, his ministry cannot ignore the private sector because it is a key contributor to the country’s education.

Given that the Supreme Patriarch is the president of the Mahamakut Buddhist University, he will be required to file assets declarations to the NACC too.

Prayut, who also heads the National Council for Peace and Order and holds special power as its chief, expressed hope that authorities will find a solution before the new rule takes effect.

However, while the NACC has promised to listen to the opinions of all sides, its president Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit emphasised that the new rule was drawn up in line with the new charter.

“It’s for the sake of transparency,” he said.

He added that in fact all state officials must submit their assets/liabilities declarations to their supervisors, but the NACC had intended to require high-level officials to submit the declarations for the NACC to review.

“Members of university councils have the power to approve budgets used by universities and their units. So, their positions are in the same level as high-level executives of state organisations. They, therefore, should declare their assets,” Watcharapol said.

The Coordinating Centre for the Public Higher Education (CHES) has expressed support for the new rule.

“There is no need for the university council’s presidents and members to be worried about asset declarations if they have nothing to hide,” CHES president Weerachai Phutdhawong said.

During the first semester, 70,000 were quickly identified and duplicates removed.

Still, duplication is believed to have punched a large hole in state coffers as the government offers a flat-rate subsidy per student to schools.

The government provides about Bt37,000 subsidy per head to state-run schools.

“Overall, there were 110,000 duplicates in the 2017 academic year,” Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Peera Rattanawijit said yesterday.

He strongly denied reports that the duplicates had only occurred at schools under the supervision of the ministry’s Office of Basic Education Commission.

“A total of 18 state agencies are now operating state-run schools,” he said.

Peera said among these agencies were the Local Administration Department, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Pattaya City Administration, the National Defence Studies Institute, the National Buddhism Office, the Royal Thai Police, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy, and the Royal Thai Air Force.

“Altogether, we registered 12.69 million students last year,” he said.

He said there was absolutely no duplication within schools under the supervision of the same agency, because the internal computer system would reject duplicate registrations.

“But duplication sometimes occurred at schools operated by different agencies,” he explained.

Peera said for schools operated by different agencies, it took time to check information and identify the duplicates.

He spoke up on the problem of duplication only after a group of schoolteachers in Chaiyaphum province petitioned Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prajin Juntong about alleged irregularities.

The complainants said that apart from claiming a higher state budget, school executives had a greater chance of promotion if records showed their schools had a huge number of students.

Peera said a probe would be launched. “Officials found guilty will face both disciplinary and criminal punishments,” he said.

AMID DECLINING numbers of visitors, notably from China, during the traditional tourist high season, a desperate Cabinet yesterday agreed to waive the Bt2,000 visa-on-arrival fee for tourists from 21 countries for 60 days to rev up one of the main engines of economic growth.

Meanwhile, the government’s economic tsar, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, yesterday made a deal in Shanghai with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to help promote Thailand as a tourist destination to Chinese people.

From December 1 until the end of January, tourists from 20 countries plus Taiwan, whose nationals are already entitled to a visa on arrival, will be able to enjoy the fee waiver as “a New Year’s gift”. The duration of stay, however, will remain unchanged at 15 days.

Passport holders of Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China,  Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Taiwan can take advantage of the waiver.

The proposal was made to the Cabinet by the Immigration Bureau to boost falling tourist numbers over the peak New Year holiday season.

Thailand has seen a continuous decrease in the number of tourists, more than 10 per cent over the past three months, said Government spokesman Puttipong Punnakanta.

The number of tourists coming through Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2016 and 2017 were 3.1 million and 2.2 million respectively, he said, but from January to September this year, the number had declined to 1.7 million.

It is hoped the visa-fee exemption will attract 30 per cent more tourists and help generate more income for the tourism industry and the entire economy, he said, while declining to estimate the loss in revenue from the visa-fee |waiver.

Puttipong said what was of greater importance was an influx of more tourists to the country. Involved parties should be prepared to ensure smooth administration, he added.

In the past few years, Thailand has been a popular destination among Chinese tourists but due to a recent boat tragedy in the resort island of Phuket which killed more than 40 people, the number of tourists from China has dropped significantly.

Observers in the industry said social media in China had spread negative reports about Thailand over the past few months, resulting in a decline in Chinese visitors. Comments on the boat tragedy made by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan months ago, the crackdown on zero-dollar package tours as well as news of an outbreak of dengue in the Kingdom had made Chinese tourists wary, according to an expert on Chinese affairs.

The number of Chinese visitors dropped dramatically from 939,771 in July, when the boat tragedy took place, to 867, 461 in August, down 11.7 per cent, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Tour operators, hotels and restaurants in Phuket have confirmed that there were still no signs of Chinese tourists returning to the province.

In the popular eastern seaside resort of Pattaya, deputy mayor Poramet Ngampichet called a meeting with concerned agencies and stakeholders in the tourism sector to map out measures to boost visitor numbers following a sharp decline in tourists. Chinese are among the top visitors to Pattaya, totalling 2.5 million last year.

The authorities in Pattaya would take more measures to ensure safety and hygiene for tourists, he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid said yesterday that China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba had agreed to help promote Thai tourism.

On November 11, or “11/11” – when Chinese people celebrate “Singles Day” – Alibaba will launch a 20-second video on its website to encourage Chinese tourists to travel to Thailand, he said.

The video is expected to reach as many as 800 million Chinese, Somkid said after his meeting in Shanghai yesterday with Alibaba’s executives, including its founder and president, Jack Ma.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand had already been instructed to create the video, Somkid said, adding he himself might be featured in the presentation to convey the message of convenience and safety in travelling to Thailand.

According to the department’s deputy director-general, Kamol Buranapong, a meeting was recently held between the agency and taxi companies, which are facing rising operating costs.

The department proposed that either a Bt3 per minute rate be applied, should the vehicle move at a speed of no more than 6 kilometres an hour, or Bt1.50 per minute for all distances and speeds.

The starting fare of Bt35 would remain the same.

It will be decided later which of these options is more practical.

The department wants 12,000 TAXI OK vehicles to be the first group of cabs to use the new rate.

The secretary-general of the Association of Public Taxi Drivers, Arporn Nopsophon, said that while she was pleased with the proposal, it would only be fair if such rates applied to all types of taxi, adding that passengers would avoid paying more and take taxis that still charged the old rate.

Source: thethaiger.com

The drill, at the Charumanee strategic training facility inside Burachat Camp, was held by engineering department personnel as a dress rehearsal for a scheduled visit today by a group of visitors.

Pol Colonel Chanin Imcharoenchai, of Ratchaburi police, confirmed that an explosion has occurred inside the camp in Muang Ratchaburi district. When police arrived they found that those affected by the blast had already been taken to hospital.

Sergeant Yutthapong Chankonkaen and Sergeant Major First Class Pien Tarajam, who were seriously injured by the explosion were later pronounced dead at hospital. The others being treated for injuries were named as Sergeant Major First Class Weerayuth, Sergeant Major First Class Chinchatchara, Sergeant Apiwat, Private Wanchalerm, Private Bannawut and Private Prateep.

Pol Colonel Chanin did not reveal the names of those injured from the engineering department.

Police sealed off the area and did not allow media inside the camp.

Chanin later said that the explosion ripped apart an inflatable rubber boat that those involved had been in.

Earlier reports suggested that the Army personnel were in a boat and taking part in a drill to demonstrate how to clear mines in the water. Their intention had been to show visitors their marine mine-clearing techniques.

Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, deputy spokeswoman of the Royal Thai Army, said in Bangkok that a committee had been set up to establish the cause of the accident.

The Army will take care of the medical costs of all those injured, as well as Yutthapong’s funeral and his family’s rights to compensation.

The waiver is seen as a New Year gift to foreign visitors and is aimed at boosting tourist arrivals to Thailand. The Cabinet has approved free visa on arrival from December 1 until January 31 to citizens of countries already entitled to a visa to arrival.

Apart from Taiwan, nationals of Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan can avail of the privilege.

Prayut said the government would make it convenient for people to visit the fair at Lumpini Park from November 23 to December. The fair will be held from 10.30am to 10pm.

“I would like people to provide moral support to the staff of Red Cross by visiting the fair and donating to the activities of the Red Cross,” Prayut said.

He was speaking after Public Relations Department director-general Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd led Chanprapha Witchitcholchai, the deputy director of the fund-raising division of the Thai Red Cross Society, and children of Red Cross staff to meet the prime minister at Government House to promote the annual fair.