 June 2013 : Fifth Cabinet Reshuffle
Fifth Cabinet reshuffle On 30th June 2013, His Majesty endorsed a new cabinet which is the fifth reshuffle since Prime Minister Yingluck Shinatara took office since 8th August 2011. They are:
White mask group protest On 30th June 2013, a number of protesters V for Thailand wearing Guy Fawkers white masks gathered in front of CentralWorld shopping complex at the Ratchprasong intersection to protest Yingluck administration. The event was to peacefully oppose Thaksin regime dictatorship, disguised under democracy, and corruption. The white mask group demonstration was held every weekend and this was the fifth one. The white mask gatherings were also simultaneously held in the provinces and abroad such as Hong Kong and Australia. Public hearing needed before water management starts On 27th June 2013, the Central Administrative Tribunal ruled the government must conduct public hearing and environmental and health impact studies before starting the water management project. The Anti Global Warming Association led by Srisuwan Janya alleged the Prime Minister and the Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC) of violating the constitution and sought the court’s order to cancel the Baht 3.5 billion project. The verdict reasoned the project must comply to Section 57 paragraph 2 and Section 67 paragraph 2 of the Constitution since it covers large area of the country and will impact a lot of people. Any project or activity which may seriously affect the community with respect to the quality of the environment, natural resources and health shall not be permitted, unless, prior to the operation thereof, its impacts on the quality of the environment and on public health have been studied and assessed and a public hearing process has been conducted for consulting the public as well as interested persons and there have been obtained opinions of an independent organization, consisting of representatives from private organizations in the field of the environment and health and from higher education institutions providing studies in the field of the environment, natural resources or health. New measures for rice pledge On 19th June 2013, the cabinet approved the National Rice Committee’s proposal to reduce the buying price of the 2013 off-season crop from Baht 15,000 to Baht 12,000 and limits the maximum amount to Baht 500,000 per household. The cabinet also reminded the Commerce, the Agriculture and Cooperatives and Interior Ministries to strictly supervise the rice pledging program in every details from registration, surveying, storing, selling etc. These new measures, effective on 30th June 2013, was a result from an estimation that there is approximately 18 million tons supply in the government stock which could cause a loss of approximately Baht 220 billion. Economic growth target reduced The Fiscal Policy Office readjusted 2013 economic growth rate from 4.8 to 4.5 percent due to a decline in domestic consumption and investment following decreasing in agricultural product prices; rubber, rice etc. More Baht 7.5 billion loan to help SMEs On 25th June 2013, the Cabinet approved a budget allocation of Baht 7,500 million to the SMEs Bank for provisional of loans at special interest rates. The loans must be used for improvement of machines in production line since the SMEs were the most affected sector from the increase of daily minimum wage to Baht 300. Maximum credit is increased from 2 to 5 million Baht. The bank had lent out its previously received Baht 7,500 million budget. Diesel tax waive re-extended On 25th June 2013, the Cabinet resolved to re-extend a waive on diesel tax for another month until end of July. The waive cost a loss of Baht 9,000 million per month. Plodprasop assigned to new job On 25th June 2013, the Cabinet also resolved to appoint Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi to chair a committee to monitor the Thai Kem Kaeng project. He will assess the progression and effectiveness of the project loans. The committee comprises of Minister to the Prime Minister Office Worathep Rattanakorn and officials from the Budget Bureau and the Comptroller General Department. Thai Kem Kaeng or Thai Strength project was initiated by the Abhisith Vejjajiva administration to promote economic growth through various loans. Household debt reached peak The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce disclosed that in 2013, 64.6 percent of Thai households are in debt and the number is 12 percent higher than last year. The percentile also is the highest in the past 5 years. While average debt per household is Baht 188,774.54 and repayment is Baht 11,671.93 monthly, proportion between formal and informal or loan shark loans are 50.4 and 49.6 percent and their repayments are Baht 10,990.28 and Baht 6,377.70 per month respectively. Informal loans also grew faster at a rate of 13.6 % per annum. Supreme Court drops charge against former EC commissioners On 13th June 2013, the Supreme Court dropped the lawsuit against former Election Commission chairman Wassana Permlarp and two other former EC commissioners, who were accused of unlawfully organizing the 2006 by-elections. The Supreme Court reasoned that Democrat MP Thaworn Senniem had no jurisdiction right to sue Wassana and the three former EC members as he is not a directly damaged person. Wassana and two other former EC members were earlier sentenced to four years in jail by lower courts and had their election rights revoked for ten years. One of them has died so the court dropped the suit against him. Thaworn alleged that Wassana and other EC members violated the 1998 EC Act by allowing failed candidates to re-contest by-elections is some constituencies on April 23 2006. The by-elections were held after Pheu Thai candidates, who had no contestants in the preceding general election, failed to earn up to 20 per cent of votes from eligible voters. The general election was boycotted by the Democrat. With the rival candidates in the by-elections, Pheu Thai candidates could avoid the 20 percent vote-getting requirement rule. Earlier, the Criminal Court sentenced Wassana and two other EC members to four years in jail and the Appeals Court upheld the ruling. But the Supreme Court disagreed with the ruling on ground that Thaworn was not an affected party as the Democrat did not contest the election in the first place. State enterprise fathers to get leave over child delivery On 18th June 2013, the cabinet resolved the Labour Ministry proposal to allow state enterprise male workers to have a leave between 15-30 days on their wives delivery on condition that the couples must be legally married. A maximum leave of 15 days will be a pay-leave and an exceeding of 30 days could be paid, at a maximum of 15 days, upon the agency head consent. National reserves increased USD 1200 million The Bank of Thailand disclosed that national reserves on 7th June 2013 reached USD 1.765 trillion or Baht 5.408 trillion which is an increase of USD 1,200 million or 3.72% from previous week. Online rallies to protest government On 14th June 2013, the Thai Spring group led by retired Pol. Gen. Vasit Dejkunchorn, Kaewsan and Kwansuang Atibhodi kick off an online rallies to protest the government. From 23 June to 28 July 2013, between 18.00 to 20.00 hours, they will organize six rallies in a closed venue and upload videos on Thai Spring Forum social media. The group claimed they are exercising their rights according to Section 69 of the Constitution. Constitution Court to rule on Section 68 and 237 amendment On 13th June 2013, the Constitutional Court tribunal voted 5 to 4 to accept Chamlong Srimuang and Wirat Kanlayasiri petitions on the amendment of Section 68 and Section 237 of the Constitution. They alleged 312 MPs and senators who submitted a motion to amend the two sections reasoning the amendment is an overthrowing of democratic regime of government which the King is the head of the state. Chamlong is one of People Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders and Wirat is Democrat Party attorney. More 28 industrial estates for AEC Between 1st April to 31st May 2013 the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand ( IEAT) invited private sector to submit proposals to set up industrial estates to serve the Asean Economic Community coming up on 2015. 28 proposals of total investment cost Baht 892 billion, covering 14,200 rais, were submitted and they are 18 SMEs estates, 4 logistics estates in Chiang Khong and Chiang Rai, and 6 estates in northeastern region. The IEAT will provide incentives as follow:
From : http://www.fpps.or.th |