February 22, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary Political News Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha came out to say that he has no plan to make changes to his cabinet for the time being after his government wins the no-confidence motion on February 20 that allows it to carry on in office. Gen Prayut and 9 other ministers survived a vote of no-confidence on Saturday (February 20). However, the vote result showed sign of undercurrents in the major coalition partners like the Democrat and Bhumjai Thai. Of the 487 lawmakers, 277 are part of the ruling coalition and 210 are with the opposition. The censure motion would require a simple majority, or 244 votes, to pass. Gen Prayut received 272 votes with 206 voting no-confidence and 3 abstentions. Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan and Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompow received the highest scores among all ministers in the grilling. A total of 487 of the 500 MPs were present for the vote of no-confidence. The results were: Gen Prayut: 272-206, with 3 abstentions Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon: 274-204, with 4 abstentions Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul: 275-201, with 6 abstentions Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanavisit: 268-207, with 7 abstentions Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda: 272-205, with 3 abstentions Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan: 258-215, with 8 abstentions Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin: 263-212, with 1 abstention Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob: 268-201, with 12 abstentions Deputy Interior Minister Nipon Bunyamanee: 272-206, with 4 abstentions Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompow: 274-199, with 5 abstentions Although 3 ministers---namely Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan and Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin, received the least votes on their scorecards---Gen Prayut said he hasn’t considered a cabinet shake-up yet. After the end of the vote of no-confidence on February 20, Gen Prayut is said to phone Education Minister Nataphol who received the worst scorecard to show his moral support and told Nataphol to carry out his duties according to the government’s policy. Gen Prayut also stressed that a cabinet shake-up is not on the cards at the moment. A group of 6 Phalang Pracharat Party (PPRP) MPs led by Watanya Wongopasi who abstained from voting for Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob at the end of last week’s censure debate is likely to face consequences of their action, a party source said, citing fears that the issue could affect ties between the PPRP and Bhumjai Thai. Following the voter result, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, as the Phalang Pracharat Party (PPRP) leader, plans a meeting with the party’s executive committee members at 16.00 hrs today to talk about 6 MPs under the Dao Ruerk Faction led by Watanya. It is said that Saksayam’s brother Newin Chidchob, Bhumjai Thai’s former power broker, is extremely unhappy with the PPRP over the score of Saksayam. Newin is said to exert pressure on the PPRP to take action against the 6 rebel MPs while a majority of Bhumjai Thai MPs feared that personal conflict between the Dao Ruerk Faction has caused conflict between the coalition parties to deepen. They demand punishment from the PPRP leadership as a proof to show responsibility to Bhumjai Thai. Six MPs of the Dao Ruerk Faction in the PPRP voted against the party’s resolution to support ministers of the coalition parties targeted by the opposition during the no-confidence vote. Bhumjai Thai key leaders demanded the 6 Dao Ruerk MPs to explain their action to show responsibility in a press conference. Bhumjai Thai’s call has sent Gen Prawit to instruct PPRP secretary-general Anucha Nakasai to ask the 6 MPs to hold a press conference. However, his demand for the 6 MPs was met with rejection. Watanya came out to say the 6 MPs are not ready to come out to explain themselves and said the faction will hold an official press briefing to explain the 6 MPs’ stance. Meanwhile, the Democrat Party is said to plan a meeting of MPs tomorrow to discuss the vote result for Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit who is the party leader after 3 MPs chose to abstain from voting, resulting in Jurin receiving the least scores in the no- confidence vote. The 3 MPs are Panit Wikitset, Apichai Techa-ubon and Anwah Salae. The party will question the 3 MPs who cast a vote of confidence for the other ministers but abstained from voting for their own leader, says Democrat Party spokesman Ramet Rattanachaweng. Although the censure motion has ended with the government surviving the motion, the opposition said it plans to petition the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to probe 3 ministers who failed to answer the opposition’s questions over corruption allegations. Yutthapong Jarassathian, a Pheu Thai Party MP for Mahasarakham, said he will petition the anti-graft body at 8.30 hrs today to ask it to look into allegations against Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit for his failure to explain an embezzlement in the rubber glove procurement by the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO); Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Bunyamanee for the controversial Chana industrial complex in Songkhla and Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan for an alleged conflict of interest over the appointment of his close aide as chief of Office of Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel. Sunday(February 21) marked the 1-year anniversary of the dissolution of the Future Forward Party (FFP) by the Constitutional Court. Progressive Movement co-leader Thanathorn Juangroonruangkit took to his Facebook to remind the public of the 1st anniversary of the FFP dissolution which coincided with the end of the censure debate against the government. Thanathorn praised the Kao Klai (Move Forward) Party’s performance in the censure debate that left nothing for him to worry about. He praised all Kao Klai MPs who did a great job, showing their visions and resilience during the debate, comparable to the FFP back then. The former FFP leader also praised Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s performance which has proven to him that he could leave the parliament with confidence that Move Forward will continue the FFP’s task in parliament, allowing him to work alongside Move Forward from behind the scene. Meanwhile, Move Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkannokkul urged the public via his Twitter to join the Clubhouse app to show their visions about the dissolution of the FFP seen as an attempt to ‘nip the FFP in the bud” but instead causing the problem “to spread like wildfire” A majority, 77.8 per cent, of the respondents in a Super Poll survey want to see a cabinet reshuffle when asked if they want to see a shake-up from a fairly degree to the most degree. When asked about their satisfaction toward the Prime Minister and other ministers targeted in the censure motion, 44.7 per cent of the respondents said they were satisfied with Gen Prayut’s performance while 41.3 per cent said they do to Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, followed by Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan and Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda (39.9 per cent each) while Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan received the least satisfaction score of 36.3 per cent. The survey was conducted on 2,930 people during February 20-21, 2021. Economic News The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)’s main committee chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha will today hold a meeting to consider the proposed easing of Covid-19 restrictions on businesses and activities including dine-in services in restaurants and the reopening of entertainment venues. Gen Prayut guaranteed on his Facebook that the CCSA will do its best to consider the proposal as the current restrictions on businesses has affected a vast number of small businesses, restaurants and operators. The registration for the cash handout scheme called “Section 33 Rao Rak Kan” or we love each other scheme” for insured workers under Section 33 of the social security system saw more than 6 million insured workers registering for the scheme on the 1st day of registration, according to Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin. The new subsidy scheme, “Mor33 Rao Rak Kan” (Section33 We Love Each Other) which opened for online registration yesterday became the most popular trend on Twitter in the morning. Out of 9.27 million insured workers, 6.3 million rushed to register for the scheme which offers 4,000 baht via the Pao Tang application. The subsidies will cost the government 37.1 billion baht and will be overseen by the Labour Ministry to help people cope with the economic impact of Covid-19. The government expected 9.27 million people to be eligible to receive subsidies under the scheme. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the TAT is ready to submit to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) within this week the details of the 3rd phase of the government-sponsored Rao Tiew Duay Kan (We Travel Together) scheme to allow a further extension of the scheme due on March 31, 2021 as well as details of the tourism package for senior travellers aged over 55. In addition, the TAT is putting forward a competitiveness enhancement fund to transform businesses in order to avoid a massive collapse in the post-pandemic era, says the TAT governor. The objective of such a fund is not to remedy ills during a time of crisis but rather to help tourism operators prepare their businesses for changes in customer demand once the pandemic is brought under control, Yuthasak explained, adding that his agency has discussed the idea with Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn but it would require more detailed discussions with the parties involved as the TAT is not authorised to set up this type of fund by itself.