NRC opens public forum hub

NRC opens public forum hub

Line, Facebook among ways to give opinions

A public hearing centre and its Line and Facebook accounts are among the nine channels to be used by the National Reform Council (NRC) to collect ideas from the public for reform and charter drafting.

Thienchay Kiranandana, chairman of the National Reform Council, drops a postcard into a mock-up of parliament’s postbox No.999, which is one of nine ways the public can submit its proposals for national reforms. Apichart Jinakul

The channels were announced yesterday as NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana presided over the opening ceremony of the council’s public hearing centre near parliament on U-thong Nai Road.

The NRC wants to know what the people think about the nation’s future, Mr Thienchay said.

As well as the centre’s Line app, Facebook page and the centre itself, there are six other ways people can make their voices heard by the NRC.

They can contact the 1743 hotline; send a fax to 02-2441881; send postcards to the parliament’s postbox No.999; and phone the NRC Update radio programme on FM 87.5 and AM 1071 between 7.30-8am every day at 02-2441482 and 02-2410055.

They can also leave their opinions at www.parliament.go.th/publicopinion or send emails to nrc57public@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, civic and ethnic groups met the NRC chairman yesterday to petition councillors to put their problems on the national reform agenda. The groups ranged from representing villagers in need of state financial support to displaced Thais and underprivileged ethnic minority people.

The groups handed letters to Mr Thienchay, asking the NRC to help them by paving the way for better law enactment and enforcement.

Palin Thamrongrattanas in from the Community Welfare Network yesterday proposed a draft bill aimed at creating a framework to better manage state welfare for poor people.

So far, said Mr Palin, many communities have been allowed to set up community welfare funds and are entitled to money from the government and local agencies. However, budget constraints have become a problem because the number of funds is increasing.

Another group led by Noi Prakoppran called on Mr Thienchay to help improve legal procedures to return Thai citizenship to thousands of displaced Thais.

These people are Thai, but they were born in areas currently located in neighbouring countries. Among them are people who once lived in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province, which was part of Thailand before French colonisation.

Another group lived in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region, which was part of Thailand before it was seized by Myanmar troops.

Many of them returned to Thailand but are listed as “stateless”.

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