September 30, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Political News There are reports that suggest that embattled Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has hinted towards amending the charter in-order to bring down the rising political temperatures in Thailand. Varawut Silapa Acha, the head of the Chart Thai Pattana party and Natural Resources & Environment Minister in Prayut government, came out to say Yesterday before the Cabinet meeting Prayut called for a coffee meeting where he reportedly asked all coalition parties to be prepared to accept the amendment of 256 and setting up a committee to look at amending the constitution or the so called ‘Constitutional Drafting Committee’ (CDC) “Yes, that was discussed and things that Pheu Thai party and the others recommended had things that were acceptable” “These issues can be discussed among the parties and it would help calm the situation.” Varawut said that once the article 256 was done then ‘we can have a referendum to undertake a rewriting of the charter.’ A committee that is vetting this issue will likely complete all these things and will decide on those things “But will we do it before October 14th, I can’t say yet because people today have their own believes and action speaks louder than words.” “Therefore, it is best for the committee to come out” “We hope that the street protests will start to dwindle after this issue” On the issue of switching off, of the powers of the Senate Varawut said “We did not discuss this issue as our topic of discussion was 256 to set up the CDC” “We have to ask the Senate for their voices and if we ask them to kill themselves it could be difficult they will not cut their limbs by themselves The Election Commission and the winning of the constituency 8 of Chiang Mai in the March 24th elections by Surapon Kietchaiyakorn is becoming another hot potato. Surapon who was given a ‘Orange Card’ for his donation of 2,000 baht to a temple during the election campaign. Surapon then took this issue to court and yesterday the court ruled in Surapon’s favor. Surapon had won the constituency with 52,165 votes But a by-election was held and Pheu Thai was not allowed to put a candidate in that constituency (as per the rules of getting Orange Card) and therefore Future Forward’s candidate Srinual Boonlue (who later switched to Bhumjai Thai party after Future Forward’s dissolution). Surapon has come out to say that he will file a case against the Election Commission to seek at least 70 million baht in compensation And that he will also ask for his MP status (which is going to be the real hot potato as the constituency seat has already gone to Srinual) Meanwhile the imminent leadership changes in the opposition Pheu Thai Party have sparked a slew of rumours including one that went viral online about possible return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as royally-bestowed prime minister for a national government. As this news report surfaced, a source close to Thaksin has come out to put a stop to the rumour mill. He said Thaksin himself has no knowledge of the news. He believed the rumour that a royal command to make Thaksin prime minister is a fake news, part of Information Operations (IO) to stir up conflict. The webpage that spread this fake news also claimed that Thaksin posted a message telling the public not to talk about royally-bestowed prime minister because everything has to adhere to democratic rules and the people’s voice. It claimed that Thaksin also posted a message that he would return to the Kingdom and take part in a general election and that he is happy to serve the public if he received a majority vote. A source close to Thaksin said the ex-premier never posted such messages. Another rumour that surfaced is that the real owner of the Pheu Thai Party is pushing for his daughter Pinthongta Shinawatra’s husband Nuttaphong Kunakornwong to take the party’s helm and be the party’s prime ministerial candidate to attract new-generation voters. Another rumour that went viral online is that Chadchart Sittipunt, a former prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, is planning to return to work for Pheu Thai and give way to other candidates for Bangkok governor. It is said that Chadchart would be invited to re-join Pheu Thai and is tipped to become a party leader and a prime ministerial candidate in a future general election, according to a source with Pheu Thai. Others expected to be invited to re-join the party include Chaturon Chaisaeng, former chief strategist of the defunct Thai Raksa Chart Party. This rumour coincided with another rumour that Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan plans to run in the coming Bangkok governor election. Chadchart took to his Facebook page to deny such a rumour, saying he continues to visit many areas of Bangkok to talk with locals and learn their problems first hand. He insisted that he will still run as an independent candidate in the Bangkok gubernatorial contest. He has recently visited locals in Prawet district. However, a Thai Rath report said Chadchart plans to withdraw from the race to clear the path for national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda’s candidacy due to their close ties since his father Sanae Sittipunt’s generation since Sanae was a former Metropolitan Police chief. Meanwhile, Sudarat came out to deny rumours that she would contest the Bangkok governor election and said her resignation from Pheu Thai’s executive board would pave the way for party restructuring and insisted that she remains as a party member. Despite that she is no longer the party’s chief strategist, Sudarat Keyuraphan said she is still in charge of finding a candidate for Bangkok governor. Sudarat dismissed rampant speculation that she and other top executives resigned from the executive board in order to join a national unity government. The Pheu Thai heavyweight ruled out the possibility of a national unity government as she said she could not ally with the pro-military camp. Embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has come out to dismiss speculation that the coalition parties will join with Pheu Thai to form a national government. His deputy Gen Prawit Wongsuwan said, “You go and ask the one who spread the rumour,” as he pointed his finger at a group of reporters at Government House yesterday (September 29). Gen Narongphan Jitkaewtae was named the new 42nd army commander-in-chief, succeeding Gen Apirat Kongsompong yesterday (September 29). During the handover ceremony for the new Royal Thai Army Chief at the army headquarters, Gen Narongphan pledged to follow his predecessor Gen Apirat who has taken a hard line against anti-government groups. Gen Narongphan himself emphasised the importance of protecting the monarchy. “I pledge to all of you that I will continue the obligations, responsibility, policies and ideology of Gen Apirat to the fullest of my ability,” Narongphan said at the military ceremony. “I will protect and develop the army so it stands as a key institution of security that sustains the nation and throne,” said Narongphan, who will formally take up the new post on October 1. He did not take questions from media. The incoming army chief reportedly said he would give his 1st interview with the media on October 6. Narongpan, 57, belongs to Vajiralongkorn’s own King’s Guard faction of the army. Former Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has come out to say that he found a page containing the Bhumjai Thai Party’s financial statement that went missing from the Election Commission (EC)’s website. Somchai posted the picture of missing page on his Facebook page, saying that he did not have to travel to the EC to ask the poll agency about the missing page. Previously, Somchai came out to say a page (page 457-461) was missing from Bhumjai Thai’s financial statement. The missing page specified details of a 30.1- million-baht loan by the party. Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda has come out to say that his ministry will hold a meeting with the Election Commission (EC) on October 1 to decide on the local election date. Once reaching a conclusion, Gen Anupong said he would proposed an agreed date to the cabinet at the next cabinet meeting. On protest news, in his Facebook post, human rights lawyer Anon Nampa pledged his readiness to take to the street from October 14 to the end of the year. He said he had nothing to worry about after he handed over all cases to his fellow lawyers. The Royal Gazette announced the extension of the state of emergency by another month until October 31 following the cabinet’s approval yesterday (September 29). The announcement came after the cabinet’s approval for the extension of the emergency decree by another month until the end of October in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19. Economic News A cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha yesterday (September 29) approved borrowing of 1.465 trillion baht in the fiscal year starting October 1, according to a government statement. The fund-raising is seen down 11 per cent from a revised 1.66 trillion baht this year. The new borrowing will be used to finance various economic stimulus programs, budget deficit, infrastructure investments and bailout of some pandemic-hit state enterprises, the government said. The borrowing will push up the ratio of public debt to GDP to rise 57.23 per cent in 2020-21, near the legal limit of 60%, according to a statement by the government.