But just one month into the New Year and it appears General Prayut is likely to have broken this resolution.

As pressure mounts on him, his government and the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which Prayut also heads, it is incumbent upon him to remain calm throughout the almost daily interviews with the media.

The first constitutional draft has been completed by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), and it has attracted a lot of criticism from mainly politicians and academics. They have described the draft as undemocratic.

Reporters often fired provocative questions at the PM and NCPO head, based on those harsh words and attacks against the draft. Also, there were allegations the new charter draft was aimed at extending the Prayut team’s time in power.

The CDC chairman, Meechai Ruchupan, recently fuelled the speculation by saying it was likely the next general election would be held late next year – and not around mid-2017 as had been stated byPrayut. He said the constitution drafters needed more time to complete their work drafting the organic laws required by the constitution. These included the laws on elections and political parties.

Thanks to the many hot political issues at this time, the media cannot be blamed for having come up with questions that could anger General Prayut.

Given his blunt and belligerent personality, the government leader has often lectured or reacted angrily in response to tough questions from reporters. There was a brief respite during the New Year period, before and after Prayut made the “good-guy resolution”. But when the new constitutional draft became a popular topic of public debate, the PM again could not restrain himself when Government House reporters repeatedly confronted him with anger-inducing queries.

Such fiery reactions sometimes lessened the significance of the message he wanted to convey to the public. General Prayut seems to be well aware of that problem, hence his “good-guy resolution” and his attempt to correct his moods before the media.

Prayut and his team have faced pressure both inside and outside the country since he staged the coup in May 2014 while serving as the Army commander-in-chief. He drew up a three-stage road map to return democracy to Thailand. Drafting the new constitution was part of the second phase – with the last phase the holding of an election to allow a democratically-elected government take over from his junta. That was a big promise that Prayut made to all Thais and the international community.

He has remained firm with his plan to have the election held in July next year. He reiterated that again on Tuesday. Prayut said that at least the process of holding the next election should start at that time.

“I still maintain that the election process must start in July 2017. Certainly, it takes a month or two [after the election] before you actually get a new government. I don’t change my words. I am still firm with July 2017,” he said.

We just hope that General Prayut will be able to keep cool for the rest of his time in office, which is numbered now by the leader himself.

As one of the 60-plus countries who are shareholders of AIIB, Thailand is supporting the new development bank along with the long-established Asian Development Bank (ADB), as both entities are expected to play a complementary role in responding to the massive need for infrastructure investment in the region.

The Bt550-billion Thai-Chinese medium-speed railroad project, whose contract is being finalised by both countries, is a case in point as the planned route will link Thailand with Laos and southern China.

According to the May 2015 issue of Fung Business Intelligence Centre, the so-called Belt and Road initiative proposed by China will have a wide range of business and economic implications for infrastructure construction and internationalisation of yuan currency as well as trade, logistics, distribution and retail development in various countries along the routes of the Belt and Road initiative.

In terms of infrastructure construction, it will start with hardware, especially in the early stage of this initiative. Projects supported by the AIIB and the Silk Road Fund will benefit construction machinery companies, building materials makers, as well as infrastructure operators.

According to the report, priority will be given to projects that will link up unconnected road sections and remove transport bottlenecks. For example, one of the plans is to build a Eurasian high-speed transport network linking Beijing and Moscow. In addition, connectivity within other parts of Asia will be further improved.

The Belt and Road initiative will further internationalise the yuan, which is now one of the reserve currencies of the International Monetary Fund’s SDR (special drawing rights) facility. The report suggests that financial integration is crucial in underpinning the Belt and Road initiative while the process will create more demand for financial professional services.

Secondly, fundraising for large-scale infrastructure projects will create new opportunities for development of bond markets in Asia while China will also encourage more companies to issue yuan bonds in China and overseas to finance these projects. This will boost demand for the yuan.

In addition, trade and other economic activities along the routes of Belt and Road initiative will increase the demand for settlement in yuan to reduce exchange risks.

China also plans to negotiate with many countries along the Belt and Road routes to set up more free trade areas while cooperating with them to further reduce the non-tariff barriers and make technical trade measures more transparent.

Cross-border e-commerce and other innovations will be promoted to make products more affordable to consumers along with the routes of Belt and Road in initiative.

This will benefit the logistics industry in terms of delivering products to customers along these routes.

Based on a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, middle-class consumers around the world are forecast to increase from 1.8 billion in 2009 to 3.2 billion by 2020 and to 4.9 billion by 2030. About 85 per cent of this growth will come from Asia and by 2030 Asia will account for 66 per cent of the global total number of middle class. This will support the longer-term objective of the Belt and Road initiative in uplifting Asia’s economic well-being.

Over the past 10 years, two big-shot politicians stepped into the sports field and appeared to do well in it.

Newin Chidchob, the politician from Buri Ram, took over Thai Premier League club Provincial Electricity Authority Foot-ball Club (Buri Ram-PEA) in late 2009.

The then-banned politician’s landing in a football field at that time left no doubt about what his real motive was. And it appears that Newin moved to the right place at the right time – just after his political career began to look dim.

His arrival came as management of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) – Thai football’s governing body, as well as the Thai Premier League (TPL) Company – the body that organises the football league in the country – were facing public criticism.

During his six years in the sports field, Newin played a major role in scrutinising the bodies and their chiefs.

From the supporters’ side, there was a belief the political big gun-turned-football club owner would finally manage to clean up the mess Thai football endured under the former FAT chief Worawi Makudi.

And next week, Thai football’s governing body will get a new chief – if an election scheduled for February 11 goes ahead as planned.

It will be exciting for the fans – a new era for Thai football – without the dominating presence of Worawi, who had held the post for eight years, lost his position last October. He was disqualified from running again because he was serving a ban from all football-related activities imposed by Fifa.

Now, the favoured candidate is former police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmoung, who was strongly backed by Newin. Former national football team coach Chanwit Pholcheewin – backed by Worawi’s camp – looks unlikely to win the ballot.

Previously, when Newin was going after the former football chief position some doubted if he really wanted to replace Worawi. But Newin, whose political ban ended in 2012, repeatedly said he had no desire to return to politics or take the top post at FAT.

“I crazily devoted my time to managing a football club because I really wanted to develop Thai football. Everyone can see how serious I am. It’s not child’s play,” Newin once said.

However, a win by Somyot will certainly turn the page to another chapter of Thai football with big support from Newin.

While Newin is almost certain to achieve his aim to conquer Thai football, his political mate Suwat Liptapanlop, is facing more challenges in his sporting ambitions.

The politician from Nakhon Ratchasima recently failed to secure the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand presidency for the eighth time after being the chief for 14 years.

Suwat was toppled in a David-and-Goliath-style contest by former national player Sombat Euammongkol, following a switch to secret ballot voting instead of the traditional hand raising.

But the result, 35 votes against19, led to turmoil on the tennis courts, as vice president Tawatchai Samutsakorn, the meeting chairman, declared the election void – citing unusual circumstances.

Some 37 tennis clubs, most of which voted against Suwat, are now expected to switch back to support the politician to resume his post. The clubs sent a letter to the Sports Authority of Thailand calling for nullification of the election result. In the meantime, Sombat is ready to fight and prove his victory was transparent.

Observers said the Suwat administration was no longer satisfying most tennis clubs, including his big budget spending for exhibitions featuring world-class stars, rather than sending Thai players to compete and get rankings outside the country.

Suwat, however, could be re-elected, depending on the governing body’s decision. But the shock results should be a lesson for both Suwat and Newin that no matter how much influence you have – if you fail to deliver, you could be punished in many ways.

Juti Krairerk, the party’s secretary-general, and deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon called a press conference to make the announcement. Juti said the party “can no longer continue our political affairs” with Sukhumbhand.

Legally speaking, Sukhumbhand is still a member of the party. However, the Democrats cannot convene a party meeting to officially expel him, due to a ban on political gatherings by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

The Democrat decision to part ways with the Bangkok governor came after months of a spat between Sukhumbhand and the party’s leadership. The Democrats appear to have sensed the city residents’ increasing dissatisfaction towards the BMA’s management team led by Sukhumbhand.

Many Bangkok people are unhappy with alleged irregularities involving the BMA and also his “immature” response to criticism over how the governor dealt with flooding. Sukhumbhand said Bangkok was a low-lying area prone to flooding and those who are afraid of floods should move to a mountainous area.

The Democrats certainly were well aware that their popularity in the capital would be at risk if they did not do anything about Sukhumbhand. Earlier, rumours were spread that he would be expelled from the party, and some Democrat politicians came out publicly with allegations of irregularities against the BMA.

The latest press conference by Juti and Ongart obviously was aimed at pleasing the Bangkok voters upset with Sukhumbhand and his team.

However, even though the Democrat Party could eventually convene in order to decide whether to expel Sukhumbhand, it remains unclear whether the executive committee would be able to get the majority support to achieve that goal. He still has the strong backing of former Democrat secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban, who has retained much influence in the party, despite leaving it to lead street protests against the previous government.

In fact, the Democrat Party’s parting of ways with Sukhumbhand has not caused much impact on him. The governor seems to have drifted away from the party otherwise he would have retained close communication with its executive team.

When the Democrats campaigned for Sukhumbhand in the run-up to the gubernatorial election three years ago, they told voters that the party would have its candidate deliver is policy platforms. But as it turned out, the Democrats could not keep that promise effectively when the Bangkok governor was involved.

When they became aware that his poor performance could adversely affect its support base, the Democrats simply opted to part ways with Sukhumbhand, saying they would no longer be responsible for what he did.

It seems that the Democrats are not only setting adrift the Bangkok governor, but also doing the same thing to the people who voted for him, due to the belief the party would be able to control him.

The Democrats should have tried harder to make the governor follow instructions from the party’s management in delivering their policy platforms. It was “too easy” and irresponsible to simply disown their candidate and deny responsibility for the people who voted for him. For many, a Democrat guarantee for their candidates could be viewed as meaningless and unreliable.

In a country like Thailand, where so much can be considered sacred, except law, people are willing to pay respects to anything they believe will bring them “good things” or even just “good feelings”.

Buddhism teaches people not to worship anything – but instead counsels people to exercise their intellect to consider the nature of life and release their minds from suffering. Nevertheless, Buddhists in Thailand seem ready to worship everything that is against the Lord Buddha’s teaching.

They build a Buddha image for the entire country to worship. Individuals have amulets and many similar objects consecrated by famous Buddhist monks to worship at home and to carry around for luck and self-protection.

Sacred objects are common in Thailand’s Theravada Buddhism sect. They are included under Buddhism as they are recognised by many religious personnel, monks included. In recent memory, we have had “Look Krok” and “Kumarn Thong” – icons made of the body of a baby boy who died before or during delivery. In another society, a wizard might function to “spiritualise” such items as sacred objects, but in Thailand it is Buddhist monks who learn black magic to give them the breath of life.

Tridsadee passed away on January 18, after a heartbreaking 70-day battle.

The media, in particular, have to a few lessons to learn.

At the start of Tridsadee’s battle with dengue at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, throngs of reporters almost literally camped out inside hospital buildings. They often chatted, causing loud noises that some people had complained about. Relatives of other patients expressed disappointment that reporters had also tried to throng around Tridsadee’s two-year-old daughter – fondly called “Mali” – and encourage her to dance to music inside the hospital.

While Mali is cute, it is understandable that some people were unhappy given that patients generally need a quiet environment for rest and recuperation. Medical workers prefer a quiet environment to focus on their work, which more often than not is a matter of life and death.

In response to complaints aired by the public, entertainment-news reporters have publicly explained that their members did not really disturb other patients and acted within a proper scope.

But last week, when Tridsadee’s family was moving his body out of the hospital, news photographers and cameramen tried to scramble for good shots to the point that at many stages his family members were not by his body’s side.

A monk who was invited to carry out the religious ritual for Tridsadee was pushed into a corner, and the fabric covering Tridsadee’s body slipped a bit amid the pushing. As a result, his forehead could be seen in some pictures.

A large number of people were appalled at such new coverage. At least 26,000 people have already signed an online petition on change.org to demand that the media improve its ethical standards, social etiquette and work procedures.

Self-regulatory media bodies have also organised seminars to address the ugly side of news reporting in cases like Tridsadee’s.

At a recent seminar, Mana Treelayapewat, dean of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Communication Arts Faculty, said if all media organisations had a panel in place to investigate alleged ethical violations, such problems would be significantly reduced.

He also pointed out that other sectors in society could help tackle such issues too. He said student networks for example should help investigate media work while sponsors should give support to quality programmes, not only the most-watched programmes.

But the media was not alone in being disrespectful in relation to Tridsadee. He said some members of the public disregarded the feelings of Tridsadee’s family when they showed up at his funeral and took selfies with big smiles.

Many people also took selfies with Tridsadee’s wife and daughter in the frame. Photos on social media showed Tridsadee’s wife shedding a tear in the background as people beamed into the camera. One such person was identified on social media, and she was quick to apologise and ask society to forgive her for her ignorance.

Let’s pray that all sides really learn a lesson.

At least there are signs for optimism. When news photographers headed to a temple in Buri Ram to cover Tridsadee’s funeral services and royal-sponsored cremation ceremony, they set up rules to ensure there was no pushing and commotion. Five photographers were selected as representatives to work at the venue and they shared the photos to prevent anyone from going beyond what is considered proper to get a better shot.

Everything thus ran smoothly without more outcries when the ceremony concluded on Sunday.

It is possible that the media’s handling of Tridsadee’s illness and death will result in reporters and news photographers focusing more on ethics when they compete for news coverage. Let’s hope they respect the rights and privacy of others too.

On the plus side, the Tridsadee case has resulted in Thais getting more knowledge of dengue and how to reduce the chances of getting it. Many more people now know there are four strains of dengue in the country.

Those who have already come down with one strain may be immune to that strain but not to the rest. Even worse is the fact that when dengue hits for a second time, symptoms are severer.

With the huge coverage of Tridsadee’s case, no one will ever take dengue for granted again. And people are now keener than ever to get rid of mosquito-breeding grounds.

 

The criticism reached its peak when reporters swarmed around his body to take photographs and record video clips as it was being removed from the hospital to be taken to his hometown in Buri Ram province.

There were several posts that struck me hard, including one that was posted against a black background, which read: “When he is being cremated, you the media could go inside the incinerator to take photographs real up close and personal.”

These messages are bound to have hurt those who still have a conscience and a heart, which is probably why some colleagues, taking these public outcries seriously, also joined the public in criticising the media’s inappropriate behaviour.

In fact, some have even gone as far as to launch a campaign calling for the ban of “badly behaving” media as well as the selective consumption of news reports.

Several media organisations are also taking the matter seriously.

For instance, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand issued a statement apologising to Trisadee’s family and the public for such bad behaviour, while the Thai Journalists Association is rushing to hold a public seminar on best practices today.

One hopes that media standards for reporting on sensitive issues, including the death of public figures, will be raised with all these efforts. It is a challenge for us all to see if we can lift our ethics up to par and perhaps earn praise from the public instead of scorn.

The ongoing media reform has actually shed light on the importance of self-regulation, though its proper format and guidelines have yet to be settled.

But the fact is media is a part of society. So, working just within its bounds may not be enough and may even impede its efforts to improve the code of conduct.

Along with the media’s latest efforts, we have also heard them calling on social-media users to stop posting harsh comments and let the media prove themselves. However, through these harsh voices of contempt, I see an active social sanction, which if properly managed, can potentially help keep the media in check.

For some time, the ongoing media reform has been centring too much on self-regulation, leaving no room for participation.

The death of this young actor has given us a bitter lesson to reconsider our role, how we behave and how we interact with society. This may be a good time as well to look at the other side of the coin and consider promoting public participation to jointly regulate us – the media.

Judging from general sentiment, the constitutional draft being written by CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan and his team is in a rather sorry state. Only a few groups of people seem to be satisfied with the content of the draft, although the government has not made its standpoint known.

Certainly, the groups mainly disagreeing with the draft are political parties and politicians, particularly those from the Pheu Thai Party. They are against the charter draft, both in terms of its content and process. Politicians from the Democrat Party have not made it clear about their stance, but some have come out publicly to criticise certain proposed provisions.

The main point with which politicians disagree involves concern that a new electoral system proposed for the new constitution would make it unlikely to achieve a one-party government. Unless there was a landslide election victory, no political party would be able to form a government on its own. As a result, coalition government would be inevitable.

Moreover, the fact that there is no requirement for a prime minister to be an elected member of Parliament has led to concern that a non-MP could become government head. The constitution drafters explained that political parties would each be required to publicly submit three prime ministerial candidates when contesting a general election. But critics questioned the merit of a requirement for each political party to nominate as many as three PM candidates. They argued that it was natural for political parties to announce their PM candidate, but they suspected there could be hidden motives behind the requirement to nominate three PM candidates.

Also, critics asked why the constitution drafters wanted only one ballot to be used for both constituency and party-list elections? They argued that using two ballots to vote for constituency and party-list MPs better reflected the intention of voters. They said voters had become familiar with using one ballot for constituency election and another for party-list vote. For critics, using only one vote for both elections was a retrogressive move. Also, they suspected a hidden agenda behind this idea of a single ballot.

Provisions in the new constitution would make it more difficult for the post-election government to do its work. There would be strict scrutinising measures and tough regulations for the next administration to follow. Also, the Constitutional Court would be empowered to rule on issues that were not covered by the constitution. In the future, this court would hand down verdicts on political issues, although members of independent organisations had been accused of bias and being close to certain groups of power.

Thanks to certain clauses, it would be difficult to amend the new constitution. Also, people are waiting to see whether the issue of political amnesty will be included in the new constitutional draft.

Those are reasons why political parties and groups will vote against the new charter draft at the national referendum. If political parties join hands in going against the draft, it will be really difficult for the draft to pass the plebiscite.

However, many political observers suspect the new charter may be drafted in a way to make sure it will not pass the national vote.

They pointed to the fact that even if the charter draft failed to pass the referendum, there would be no impact on the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The junta would not be at a disadvantage or in a tough situation, but on the contrary, would gain an advantage.

If the charter draft passes the referendum, the NCPO will be able to benefit from certain clauses in the new constitution, which may allow it to “inherit” their power.

But even if the draft fails to pass, the NCPO still has two options. First, it may order a new round of constitution drafting and continue doing so until the draft passes a referendum. That means the NCPO will remain in power for the time being. Second, the junta may write a new constitution by itself and promulgate it without having to pass a national vote. That way, it could write the new charter the way it liked it, without having to seek anyone’s consent.

Thanks to its status as the ultimate sovereign power, the junta is still in complete control of the country — whether the constitutional draft passes the referendum or not.

Given the mutual and national benefits, these CEOs, who commandeer Thailand’s largest conglomerates, are quite happy to work with the economic team – headed by Dr Somkid Jatusripitak, deputy premier for economic affairs – which recently set up a total of 12 working groups comprising both CEOs and top government officials.

Their mission is to revitalise the economy with multiple strategies ranging from boosting innovation and productivity to attracting private investment and developing new infrastructures, among others.

The short-term goal is to ensure the country’s GDP grows by 3-3.5 per cent this year, up from last year’s 2.8 per cent; while the medium- to long-term objectives are to boost the country’s international competitiveness following last month’s birth of the Asean Economic Community.

Short-term challenges include the ramifications of a Chinese economic slowdown, an oil and commodity price slump, exchange rate fluctuations and Thailand’s drought.

For the long run, one key strategy is to uplift small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and new business start-ups for more sustainable economic growth. At present, the number of SMEs in Thailand is estimated to total 2.7 million, of which 500,000-600,000 are registered as juristic persons,[legal entities recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties], while the rest are individuals.

In short, SMEs are the economy’s backbone and the biggest employers creating more than 10 million jobs. Altogether, SMEs account for 97 per cent of the total number of Thai enterprises, but, in terms of GDP, their share is only 30 per cent. On the other hand, conglomerates and big businesses whose number is just 2 per cent of the total control nearly 70 per cent of total GDP. As a result, it is imperative to boost the SME sector to account for a bigger share of GDP.

For developed nations, SMEs |generally account for 50 per cent or more of GDP, thus creating a more balanced economy and income distribution.

The country also needs a more competitive workforce, a stronger grass-roots economy, more competitive exporters, tourism and related businesses as well as more outbound investment activities and new so-called S-Curve industrial clusters.

All these are among the objectives and strategies outlined by the Somkid economic team to be implemented by the 12 working groups co-chaired by ministers, permanent secretaries, director-generals and CEOs.

The 12 working groups have been holding both weekly and monthly meetings to drive the implementation of these strategies.

Among top CEOs in these working groups are Kan Trakulhoon of Siam Cement Group, Supachai Chearavanont of True Corp, Adirek Sripratak of CPF, Somchai Lertsuthiwong of Advanced Info Service, Asawin Techacharernwikul of Berli Jucker.

Jen Namchaisiri of Asia Fibre, |Tos Chirathiwat of Central Group, Chartsiri Sophonpanich of Bangkok Bank, Boonchai Chokewatana of |Saha Group, Tapana Siriwatanapakdi of Thai Beverage Group, Vikrom Kommadit of Amata Corp, Kiri Kanchanapas of BTS Group.

The economic team’s leadership and political will are obvious – so is the private sector’s enthusiasm – but one CEO said he is not sure if most civil servants would fully co-operate with the public-private sectors’ teams since some budgets need to be shifted to implement new measures or to provide incentives.

Over the past one-year-and-a-half, the military government has faced problems resulting from the civil servant sector’s reluctance to quickly implement policies due to concern over strict scrutiny on budget disbursement

The premier last week put the brakes on a proposal from his classmate General Akanit Muensawat, a member of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), to set up a special panel to seek ways to promote peace and reconciliation.

Later, in his television address on Saturday, the premier said everybody should be more careful about the concept of reconciliation, because otherwise it would be nothing more than an “illusion”.

“If we push it [reconciliation] too hard and fast without being careful, it could get stuck and spark a new round of conflicts. Also, conflicts still exist. There will always be two conflicting sides, with one side aiming for peace and another pushing for amnesty. So how will the country move forward?” he asked.

He went on to say that he aimed to build common understanding among opposing sides and end all conflicts before he allowed any more reconciliation committees to be set up.

“I want reconciliation, but I prefer not to exercise my power to grant amnesty by bypassing existing laws,” he said.

On the one hand, Prayut may foresee all reconciliation plans eventually leading to amnesty or pardon proposals, be it an amnesty that is only granted to minor offenders or one that covers one and all. However, as soon as the taboo word “amnesty” is tossed up, there will be concerned or opposing voices, and this could trigger yet another period of turmoil.

Hence, judging from the PM’s remarks, it will not be possible to see reconciliation any time in the near future, especially during this transition period.

As is widely known, the camp of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra is desperately pushing for a “blanket” amnesty, while the other side is doing its best to stop that scenario from happening. So if the junta did give amnesty a nod, it could create a new round of conflict. So, perhaps the safest option would be for Prayut and the junta to block any new proposals for reconciliation.

However, the premier still chooses to think that the biggest obstacle to reconciliation is the criticism his government and the junta is getting from some political groups and citizens, not the fact that his thoughts and approach towards reconciliation could be the problem.

Since Prayut led the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to stage the coup in May 2014, three reconciliation panels have already been in existence. Sadly, none of them got any closer to implementing any plans.

The NCPO set up the Centre for Reconciliation and Reform to promote reform, unity and reconciliation at village and provincial levels, but the centre became obsessed with “adjusting the attitude” of those who were against it. The junta was trying to “fix” those with different political viewpoints.

In other words, Prayut obviously believes that the only way conflicts can end is if the opposition can be turned into an ally made up of people who think like him. However, this will be impossible to achieve and is, perhaps, the wrong approach.

If the premier fears that reconciliation will be merely an illusion, then he should realise that the only way true reconciliation can take place is if all conflicting sides are willing to live with each other peacefully – they can never be forced to do this.