Lampang veteran politician Boonchu Trithong believes "actions speak louder than words" and that it is better for the military regime to act than to speak.
Boonchu: Wise words for Prayuth
The former Thai Rak Thai executive recently commented on the work of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
He said NCPO leader Prayuth Chan-ocha is not a politician and he should be careful when making his weekly Returning Happiness to the People TV address broadcast every Friday.
"Don't speak too much, but work more and show the people what you have achieved," he said.
Mr Boonchu was among 111 former Thai Rak Thai Party executives who were banned from participating in politics for five years when their party was disbanded as a result of electoral fraud.
Since the ban ended, Mr Boonchu has maintained a low profile in politics and has spent his time concentrating on his business, charity and educational activities.
In the past, he maintained close ties with the military as he was one of the first businessmen to deal in communications equipment with the armed forces, which in turn helped improve their communications technology.
Recently, Mr Boonchu was named by Forbes Asia magazine in its July issue as one of 48 Heroes of Philanthropy from 12 Asian and Pacific countries, in recognition of his contribution to charity in Thailand.
He donated 25% of his assets to support local education in Lampang, including the donation of a 364-rai plot of land as well as more than 100 million baht to fund the construction of buildings and facilities such as libraries and student dormitories at Thammasat University's Lampang campus in Hang Chat district.
He has also provided scholarships to support the education of needy local students. Further donations are expected for the campus's future projects.
Commenting on politics, he said the political morass over the past decade resulted from two groups of political rivals, with corruption being the root cause of it all.
He agreed with the provisional constitution which requires a committee to be responsible for drawing up a permanent charter and to formulate the steps needed to ban politicians found guilty of electoral fraud for life.
"That's a good idea. But what about their nominees? How can we suppress them? Even their chauffeurs have been put up to run in past elections [on behalf of the banned politicians]," Mr Boonchu quipped.
He also offered advice to Gen Prayuth. "Gen Prayuth should take care of himself by speaking less, in the same way as Pa Prem [Privy Council president and former prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda]. Speaking too much only leaves us vulnerable," Mr Boonchu said.
He commended the NCPO for its efforts to solve problems plaguing the controversial rice-pledging scheme, although he did not think the military regime should be involved too much with trivial issues such as the plan to regulate motorcycle taxi services or dealing with overpriced lottery tickets.
He urged the NCPO to press the National Anti-Corruption Commission into speeding up its investigations into numerous corruption cases.
On national reform, Mr Boonchu stressed that all reform proposals may sound good on paper, but they will never materialise unless serious efforts are made to implement them.
Back door approach
Of the dozens of announcements signed by National Council for Peace and Order chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, three have obviously set the coup leader off on the wrong foot with certain groups.
The first and foremost was announcement No.97 curbing media freedom of expression.
Prawit: ‘Detouring’ documentation
After protests from professional media groups, the military regime backtracked, issuing announcement No.103 to amend its original order to allow "honest criticisms" of its actions by the media and commentators that are "in good faith and intentions". But the amended version did not calm the nerves of media outlets for long.
The coup-makers' announcement No.108 demanding action against Manager Weekly for publishing articles containing sarcastic comments about the NCPO ruffled more feathers. According to the military regime, those articles could have misled the public into thinking the NCPO is above the monarchy.
A source close to the NCPO claimed the controversial media directive was initiated by the police and some military officers seeking to stifle criticism and appease the junta chief.
In a draft order involving Manager Weekly, the NCPO was to have summoned the magazine's executives, but that part was "censored" by Gen Prayuth's staff who foresaw another hassle.
Even so, the order came in for criticism because it was issued in the form of an order instead of an announcement, which would have been seen as a softer form. Gen Prayuth's staff rushed to arrange a meeting in which deputy army chief of staff Lt Gen Kampanart Ruddit toned down the issue by submitting a petition to the National Press Council of Thailand requesting an inquiry into the ethical conduct of the magazine.
Then there was another announcement, No.85, suspending local elections and replacing elected officials with bureaucrats.
According to the source, the announcement was the work of the interior permanent secretary and the city clerk who managed to push the matter through a "detour" that bypasses certain steps and fast-tracked it to Gen Prayuth, despite opposition from three legal experts, Visanu Krue-ngam, Borwornsak Uwanno and Somkid Lertpaitoon who serve on the NCPO's legal and justice affairs panel chaired by Gen Paiboon Kumchaya.
Defence permanent secretary Surasak Kanchanarat was asked to control the damage and patch things up with local administrative bodies who considered the move a setback for reform and decentralisation of power.
The latest controversial announcement, No.115, came early this week. It authorises provincial police region chiefs to overrule decisions by prosecutors not to indict suspects. The power to overrule originally was in the hands of provincial governors.
Under the directive, this authority to overrule applies only to criminal cases in the provinces. In Bangkok, there is no change; the power to overrule still rests with the attorney-general.
The source said the announcement was again opposed by the NCPO's legal advisers. The Office of the Attorney-General and the Interior Ministry have also been vocal on the issue, so much so that Gen Paiboon has promised to see what can be done.
The directive is said to have been pushed through by the police using the "detour" again.
According to the source, these cases suggest that there are "personal channels" other than the legal and justice affairs panel by which legal documents and important issues can find their way to Gen Prayuth's office pending his signature. One of them is said to be through NCPO chief adviser Prawit Wongsuwon, Gen Prayuth's trusted friend and ex-boss.
It is reported that Gen Prayuth's staff are finding it tough coping with the influx of legal documents coming through the "detour". As a precaution, it is agreed that legal announcements should be first signed by Gen Paiboon before they reach the NCPO chief's office.
The source said it is interesting to see how Gen Prayuth will handle things that come through the "detour", especially when it comes from Gen Prawit who is said to be behind the appointment of the National Reform Council's selection committees.
It's all up in the air
Many major satellite television channels prevented from broadcasting since the May 22 coup are slowly coming to terms with the reality that they will have to reinvent themselves or die out.
Viewed as partisan media with questionable agendas by those with little sympathy for the suspended channels, some stations quite clearly leaned toward certain political groups at the height of the colour-coded conflict early this year.
They were held responsible partly for fanning the flames of social division and driving a wedge between people on both sides of the political divide.
After the coup, the stations were taken off the air and have stayed so amid ongoing efforts by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to reform the media, one of the 11 platforms of the wider national reform.
The stations, however, have not been completely cut off from their audiences. They have communicated their messages to their supporters via social media.
Managers of the stations have had to find ways to stay afloat financially with no revenue coming in from commercials. Staff have been going out into shopping districts to sell consumer products to raise funds for the stations.
At the same time, the stations are trying to find their feet and reinventing themselves as speculation spreads that they might soon be allowed back on air. But they could well re-emerge in a different guise.
ASTV, a broadcasting arm of the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy, has been in a rut for some time and is undergoing a face-lift. It has streamlined its news programmes in keeping with the current atmosphere set by the NCPO's new political order.
If and when the station returns to the broadcast fold, it will likely be renamed News One, the name taken from one of the channel's popular news commentary programmes it aired regularly.
Over at Bluesky, which ran live coverage of the People's Democratic Reform Committee during the movement's six months of street protests that ended when the NCPO staged the coup, a similar change is taking place, according its Facebook page.
Bluesky staff are working to re-create the station, starting with a change of identity and name to Fah Wan Mai (New Day Sky).
ASTV and Bluesky were a major force behind the mass protests. But the changes since the coup will see them disseminate news in a different light.
Meanwhile, the digitally-run Voice TV linked to the red shirts has resumed operations, although it no longer carries political programmes.
However, the fate of Asia Update remains unknown — it was subject to close NCPO scrutiny after its broadcasts were suspended by the coup.
All of this is happening as the National Reform Council is taking shape with a mission to implement all-round reforms for the country, including the mass media.
A political source said the media needs more professional accountability — and one way of ensuring this is for media outlets to start monitoring one another.