Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has invoked the powerful Section 44 to give officials investigating the rice-pledging scheme immunity from future lawsuits.
He is also using the section to track down alleged wrongdoers and is calling for compensation from its losses through legal and disciplinary actions, according to a National Council for Peace and Order decree published in the Royal Gazette on Saturday.
According to the order, individuals, a group of people, working teams, committees, state agencies and officials who were appointed or assigned from May 22 last year by the prime minister, ministers, the cabinet or the Rice Policy and Management Committee to handle stockpiles of rice in the scheme from 2005-06 to 2013-14 will be empowered to investigate and protected.
The move is to ensure no more damage will arise from the deteriorating rice condition. It is the first time Section 44 has been invoked for the rice-scheme.