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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40023355

Chuan blames House meeting collapse on absent MPs travelling to Japan

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2022

House Speaker Chuan Leekpai on Thursday blamed the collapse of Wednesday’s parliamentary meeting due to a lack of quorum to the absence of many MPs away on trips to Japan.

He said that several lawmakers were on a leave of absence for an overseas trip organised by their respective House committees.

“A large part of the House members is now flocking to Japan. They are on a trip with their committees. This is a period when House committees have to spend their [remaining] budget,” the speaker said.

According to him, most of the absent MPs had their departure flights on Thursday and they were scheduled to fly back to Thailand next Tuesday (December 27).

He said the House meeting on Wednesday collapsed due to a lack of quorum. It was four participants short of the quorum when the chair, Second Deputy House Speaker Supachai Phosu, adjourned the meeting.

Chuan said on Thursday he agreed with Supachai’s observation that confusion sometimes occurred during House meetings following frequent resignations of MPs in recent weeks, affecting the number of minimum lawmakers required to form the quorum.

The House speaker also said that during the remaining time of its term, the Lower House was likely to focus on deliberating draft bills that require only slight changes after being considered by the Senate following the House’s initial endorsement. He said this change was proposed by the opposition, to which he agreed.

When asked if the proposed change of focus would affect the bill on cannabis, Chuan said the matter would be discussed by the parties involved.

He said additional meeting time might be required for the bill as its deliberation was proceeding slowly. At the latest meeting on the legislation on Wednesday, the deliberation was on Articles 4 to 9 out of the 95 articles of the bill. “Everyone knows that it will take a considerable amount of time for the law to pass,” Chuan said.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40023354

Second reading of marijuana bill delayed for ‘more urgent matters’

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2022

House Speaker and Parliament President Chuan Leekpai on Thursday informed coalition and opposition whips that the second reading of the cannabis-hemp regulation bill will be suspended next week for the House to consider more urgent matters.

The second reading of the bill was initially scheduled for next Wednesday when the House would continue deliberating Section 4.

But during the meeting of the whips, Chuan said the House needed to use next week’s meeting to consider whether to reaffirm five bills that have been passed in three readings by the Senate but were changed significantly.

Chuan said the five bills are the architect regulation bill, the labour protection bill, the marine navigation bill, the pension fund bill, and the student loan bill.

The House speaker told the whips that the House would resume the second reading of the cannabis/hemp bill on January 4.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to remove Section 3 from the cannabis-hemp bill and started deliberations on Section 4. Section 3 specified that cannabis and hemp are not considered narcotics under the Narcotic Drugs Act.

The House committee that vetted the bill proposed the deletion on grounds that it was not necessary as hemp and cannabis have already been removed from the Narcotics Category 5 list by a Public Health Ministry directive.

Chuan said he realised that some MPs would like to skip next week’s meeting for holiday travels but it is still an official working day so he instructed the coalition and opposition whips to tell MPs in both camps to attend the meeting in full force.

Chuan said the House and Senate will also have joint sittings on January 10 and 11 to deliberate a bill on media ethics, the national education bill and a bill on charter amendments proposed by the Pheu Thai Party.

Chinnaworn Boonyakiat, Democrat MP who is deputy coalition chief whip, said he believed MPs would attend the meeting in full force because the drafts that are scheduled to be considered are crucial for the country.

Chinnaworn added that the opposition whips also said their MPs would not skip the meeting next week.

Related story:

Parliament deletes Section 3 of cannabis bill, leaving herb in legal limbo

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40023353

Pheu Thai will increase the digital workforce by 500% in 4 years, its leader tells forum

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2022

Jarupong Krisanaraj

The opposition Pheu Thai Party will increase the number of people working in the digital economy fivefold in four years as part of its effort to transform Thailand’s economy, its leader, Chonlanan Srikaew, told a forum in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Thailand will not be able to keep pace with the emerging digital economy if the country lacks skilled workers, Chonlanan explained. As a result, Pheu Thai “aims to increase digital economy personnel from 400,000 people to 2 million people in the next four years”, he said.

Chonlanan was one of several party leaders speaking at “Next Step Thailand 2023”, which was organised by Nation Group news outlets Spring News, Nation TV and Post Today.

The Pheu Thai leader said his party would also increase digital literacy, encourage the usage of digital wallets, open a digital data centre, and draw more digital nomads to Thailand.

Chart Pattana Kla Party leader Korn Chatikavanij told the forum that people are already part of the next step world.

He pointed to the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT and noted that it had attracted 1 million users within five days of its launch on November 30.

“The AI chatbot took a shorter period to attract people than Facebook and Instagram,” he said, adding that Facebook and Instagram attracted 1 million users within 10 and five months, respectively.

He said ChatGPT can answer questions on the level of a university thesis and users do not have to input data into it.

“It makes me worry about the future of education [and] test cheating,” he said.

Korn said there was also a downside to the digital transformation. He noted that people have suffered from social conflict and fake news since the emergence of social media.

To develop Thailand’s digital economy, Korn said the government must change its mindset to make its operations more transparent. This will also enable the government to reduce its operational costs, he added.

“Thailand’s level of innovation is not inferior to other countries,” Korn said, noting that the Paotang application has attracted 34 million users.

Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat put the value of Thailand’s digital economy at 1.2 trillion baht, with annual growth of 15%. However, despite its size and rapid growth, Thailand’s digital economy is still falling short, he said.

“Thailand’s digital economy was ranked 6th among Asean countries,” Pita said, blaming low investment from the government for its poor standing in the region. 

Pita said three major initiatives were required to promote Thailand as a digital market in Asean. First, a digital strategy must be launched. Second, laws and regulations need to be amended. Third, infrastructure needs to be upgraded.

Thai Sang Thai Party leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan said determined leaders were necessary to promote Thailand’s digital economy.

She also outlined her vision to develop Thailand’s digital economy by 2027 as follows:

Creating awareness of digital literacy among workers and students.

Boosting people’s authority and Thailand’s competitiveness, such as amending Food and Drug Administration’s regulations, setting up a digital government and creating digital token.

Digitising Thailand to cope with various crises, such as adopting the Bio-Circular-Green economy model, using solar cells, promoting the use of electric vehicles and developing a carbon credit mechanism.

Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit said the digital economy is crucial for increasing competitiveness and gross domestic product.

He said Thailand was 40th of 63 countries on a world digital competitiveness ranking this year, citing International Institute for Management Development data.

“Thailand’s technology was ranked 20th among 63 countries,” he said, “However, Thailand’s knowledge and readiness were ranked 45th and 49th, respectively.”

He said Thailand should develop personnel, laws, and technologies to promote the digital economy.

“Most importantly, Thailand should be ready for global rules related to the digital economy,” he said, adding that these rules would be issued soon.

Related stories:

• Innovation is the key to unlocking Thailand’s digital potential, PTT CEO says
• Spend more on cybersecurity, panel advises at HackaThailand 2023
• Thailand’s improved business registration law to go into effect from Feb 7

Jarupong Krisanaraj