Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Thursday he will not attend the forum on petroleum concessions set to be held at Government House on Friday but would listen elsewhere.
Opponents of the 21st round of petroleum exploration and production concessions have demanded the forum be postponed until the prime minister can attend it. But Gen Prayut said he had many national problems to handle, and as the forum would be broadcast live, he would be listening to it while handling other work elsewhere.
"I know well that questions would be fired at me and that would not make sense," Gen Prayut said. He promised to listen to proponents and opponents to petroleum concessions and choose a proper way out.
The prime minister said the public forum would go ahead as scheduled and as he had opened it to opponents to air their concerns, they should attend it. Any activities elsewhere would be illegal and would not allow concerned authorities to explain the situation, he warned.
Gen Prayut said existing laws were promising for granting petroleum exploration and production concessions and any legal changes to find other solutions would need to be seriously considered.
This was an apparent referrence to the Energy Act. He said any legal amendment could take three months.
With concessions, the government would not have to invest but would collect taxes and concession fees even if exploration failed to find petroleum, Gen Prayut said.
In joint ventures with the private sector or sole investment, the government would face the risk of losing money if it found no petroleum, he said. Besides, the government was not capable of exploring and producing petroleum by itself.
A joint venture that found a small amount of petroleum would not make any difference from a concession approach, he added.
Sources said that Gen Prayut has ordered 200 soldiers and 750 police officers to secure the forum on Friday morning.
Seven concerned groups had sought permission to attend the forum and their supporters would be allowed to follow the live broadcast at the government's complaints centre adjacent to Government House.