Although most political parties and politicians are still banned from going about their business, Thailand's political temperature is rising, and it's all because of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The premier announced, while visiting the northeastern province of Amnat Charoen on Monday, that he needed to make more trips to the provinces to improve voters' understanding of the coming election.
Soonruth Bunyamanee is acting editor, Bangkok Post.
He added that when the country has elections, he will still need to travel to the provinces and explain to people that it's time to unite and welcome visits from their new government, whether they voted for that party or not. In the past, fear of protests has had a restrictive effect on government representatives ability and, indeed, desire to journey outside of Bangkok.
As leader of the current government, Gen Payut has every right to take his cabinet to visit people in the provinces, but as the poll draws near, one cannot help thinking that such trips are politically motivated.
Mobile cabinet meetings, first initiated by Thaksin Shinawatra, have become a tradition for every government including Thaksin's arch-enemies. Every government uses the meetings as a political tool to gain support from people in rural areas. This is because each government ties the meeting with budget allocation to the respective areas it visits.
Such a trip, if taking place in normal times, not when the country is under restrictions, may bring no questions. But this time, the country is still under military rule with parties banned from carrying out political activities. This raises a bigger question as some parties, especially those with military leanings, seem to have more privileges than others.
While Gen Prayut said people in the provinces need political education as the poll draws near, why does he reserve the right of educating people for himself only?
Besides, after observing several of his trips, I would say we can predict what he will say to those who receive him.
On each provincial trip, Gen Prayut told residents: "Don't elect bad guys [to be MPs]", "You should choose good people" or "You must elect the right people".
The Prime Minister and 'mobile cabinet' spent Monday in Amnat Charoen (orange) and Tuesday in Ubon Ratchathani provinces, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet.
On the July 23 trip, Gen Prayut told those in Amnat Charoen who gathered to welcome him that prolonged political problems in the country are a result of people choosing the wrong leaders. Next time, he urged, the people should make a better choice.
Notably, Gen Prayut's announcement of his future provincial trips seems to coincide with the moves of the Sam Mitr (Three Allies) political group, which has been accused of siphoning politicians for the Phalang Pracharat Party -- an alleged proxy for the military with a mission to bag support for Gen Prayut to return as premier.
Interestingly, it seems the Sam Mitr group can swan about poaching ex-MPs freely without warnings from the regime that such a practice breaches the political activity ban.
Although the prime minister ruled out any political agenda for his planned provincial trips, there are reasons for the leader to rejoice. The latest opinion polls carried out by the National Institute for Development Administration, or Nida Poll, came out in his favour.
The poll was conducted on July 17-19, with 1,257 respondents, aged 18 and above. The respondents represented people in various levels of education and occupations throughout the country.
Asked to name candidates they wanted to be the next prime minister under the present election law, the respondents named Gen Prayut.
The prime minister is the poll darling with support from 31.26% of the total respondents. In the polls, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Pheu Thai Party came second with 14.96%, followed by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat Party leader, 10.50%; Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temiyavej, the Seri Ruam Thai Party leader, 7.80% and Thanathorn Jungrungreangkij of the Future Forward Party (7.48%).
But when asked about the political parties that they want as the core of the new government or lead the new government, the respondents named Pheu Thai Party with 31.19%; followed by Phalang Pracharat Party (21.88%), Democrat Party (16.47%), Future Forward Party (9.63%) and Seri Ruam Thai Party (2.07%).
For Gen Prayut, despite high popularity, his score slipped slightly from the 32.24% support he received in May. In terms of political parties, the Phalang Pracharat Party, which supports Gen Prayut to stay in power, still lags Pheu Thai to some extent but could beat the Democrats to the silver.
In fact, Phalang Pracharat's increasing popularity has nothing to do with its public policies. It appears the party has received support because of its links to Gen Prayut.
The more popularity Gen Prayut gains, the higher the chances that Phalang Pracharat can become a core party to form the government. Intentionally or unintentionally, Gen Prayut's mobile cabinet trips will enhance this possibility.
For Pheu Thai, the survey results suggested that its overall popularity remains strong in provincial areas but the problem is that the party still cannot find the right leader to steer it to victory in the coming election.
Still, the survey remains nothing but a rough guide. There are many factors that can unexpectedly change the outcome of a vote.
However, my focus is on Gen Prayut. He may subscribe to the adage that "all is fair in love and war", but he must realise it's different in political warfare. What he should do now is to ensure that the political playing field is level for all, or else any victory he may enjoy will remain forever tarnished.