The Prayut Chan-o-cha cabinet's choice of 120 people to run a new 165-member reform committee does not lend much hope for progressive changes for the country. Instead it raises doubts and uncertainties about the future of its people.
Such pessimism has something to do with both the people whom the regime has handpicked to execute 11 areas of reform, proposed by the now defunct National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), and the controversial nature of those reform proposals.
Appointed on Tuesday as required by the law on national reform and national strategies, and as stipulated by the constitution, the committee will have eight months to turn the NRSA's proposals into action plans by April next year. The cabinet will have to put 45 more people on this panel. Later on, new laws are likely to be drafted and passed to accommodate a number of changes.
While the list of 120 people on the committee is not dominated by civil servants -- the military, the police and bureaucrats -- as much as it was for the NRSA, many of them are still "familiar faces" -- civil servants, supporters of and those close to the military regime as well as many members of the NRSA.
Even though government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd insisted that the civil servant headcount on these 11 committees has been kept to a minimum, social media is abuzz with talk that many of the 120 members appointed are close to the regime and one of its core members -- Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
It remains to be seen which recommendations of the NRSA this committee will select for execution. As the NRSA was dominated by civil servants, their proposals do not offer much progressive change.
The NRSA's recommendations have been questioned and criticised by a wide range of groups of people for being backward, conservative and impractical. The overall impression given by critics is they will represent a retrograde step.
Many conservative and impractical proposals of the NRSA include the establishment of a national morality system as a new test for all politicians to pass prior to running in general elections. Another suggestion is a bill on conflicts of interests which will have its jurisdiction cover extended members of the families of state officials and public office holders.
Other NRSA proposals include the setting up of a media professional council that could pave the way for state interference in the media's work, and the enhancement of morality and religious studies in schools.
What the government needs to watch out for is that it does not fill the remaining 45 members of the committee with people who would be closely associated with the military. What it needs to do is attract more talent who have progressive visions. The regime needs new faces on the committee to balance out any criticism of its reform proposals.
The end of this so-called reform process will be the future direction Thailand will take in the years, if not decades, ahead. Under the NRSA's proposal, the future does not seem so bright for the country.
Already some experts are openly saying that Thailand is likely to lose its title as Asean's second-largest economy to Malaysia in the next few years if our growth continues at the current pace and possibly to the Philippines in the next six to seven years.
In a world where every country is looking to move forward, the lost decade of Thailand has already started to take a toll on the future and it is therefore paramount that the people and the government get over their ideologies and favoritism and move towards making our nation worth investing in and living in.