TRAT: Authorities derailed plans by people on Koh Chang to air their grievances personally when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made a brief visit to the island on Monday.
Officials confiscated two banners a group of people living on the island had readied to show the prime minister after seeing them display the first one. The banner read, "Koh Chang people will have a better life if the prime minister shows sympathy." (continues below)
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recieves a hug during his visit to Ban Pret Nai in Muang district of Trat on Monday.(Government House photo)
Officials said banners were banned and directed them to lodge their complaints at the government complaint centre in the province. The ban was enforced by the presence of navy marines and provincial and district officials.
Island residents had planned to draw the prime minister's attention to land disputes they have with Koh Chang National Park and the Royal Thai Navy, group leader Watchara Muntawin said.
The issue was later raised during a meeting with Gen Prayut. Upset residents argue they were living on the island and occupying the land in question long before the national park was declared and the navy arrived to stake a claim.
About 200 coastal fishermen from Rayong and Trat were waiting to submit a letter asking the prime minister to crack down on foreign workers threatening their jobs.
They had planned to give Gen Prayut a bouquet of flowers, but it was also banned by authorities.
Suchart Meepheung, who led the disappointed fishermen, said they all decided to return home, and dumped the flowers into the sea.
Trat was the first stop for the prime minister in his first cabinet outing this year. A cabinet meeting is scheduled in neighbouring Chanthaburi on Tuesday.
Gen Prayut has been out visiting to provinces since last year, trips arranged as the country moves slowly towards a promised general election and political parties are still prohibited any activities at all.
The prime minister used his weekly TV broadcast in September last year to deny suspicions he was using upcountry visits to boost his popularity ahead of the polls.
A plan to solve the water shortage and garbage disposal problem on Koh Chang is on the cabinet agenda for the Chanthaburi meeting.
The highlight is planned to be the cabinet's promotion of the Eastern Economic Corridor scheme and finding ways to bring Trat and Chanthaburi on board.
The two provinces are so far not included in the massive investment, which covers Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao.