National Broadcast by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister - December 12, 2014 Good evening dear Thai citizens. This December brought about a joyous occasion for all Thai citizens who came together to pay tribute to His Majesty the King by conducting good deeds and arranging many commemorative activities. On December 6, I had the opportunity to watch the Phra Maha Chanok The Phenomenon live musical show at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The story of Phra Maha Chanok was penned by His Majesty the King in 1996 and underscores the philosophies of virtue, diligence, perseverance and consideration for the good of the whole. I would like to commend and thank all persons involved in this project – the producers, music composers, actors and other staff – there were about 1,000 of them in all. I also thank the orchestra, which brought together as many as 60 musical instruments. All of them helped to bring to life the work of His Majesty, which was enjoyed by Thai and foreign guests in attendance. This event was open to the public without admission fees and was truly enjoyed by all. In this story, Phra Maha Chanok persevered through a swimming ordeal in the sea that lasted seven days. Although he could not see the coast, he had to be alert and make preparations for challenges that lay ahead. When he deemed that a storm approached, he stockpiled food and filled his stomach. To ward off dangerous critters, he applied oil throughout his body. These instances highlighted the importance of being wary of your surroundings and making advance preparations. One of the things I was impressed with was the philosophy of enhancing intellectual development that underlies the story. The scene where mango was cultivated provided knowledge to the public, as it displayed as many as nine processes involved with cultivation. These processes include seed incubation, preservation of the root, propagation by cutting, cleft grafting, tip grafting, inlay grafting, layering, smoking barren trees, and tissue cultivation for breeding. Therefore if the knowledge of mango cultivation was common knowledge, it would lessen the probability of fighting over such a resource. In the story, viewers will see that that the mango trees will eventually die if they are fought over, and nobody will ever get to eat mangoes again. This emphasizes the need to share and unite for the common good. In the story, the creation of the learning center on marine crabs also reinforces the ideas that education which does not foster understanding yields no benefits, and those with knowledge but without virtue or ethics will also not be of any use. Thailand is currently in a transition period when the country is reviewing itself. In order to bring about reforms that will take the country toward sustained development, I ask that all citizens exercise patience and diligence. I ask that people constructively listen to different ideas, and unite for the good of the whole and for the future of our children. I ask that knowledge be exchanged through appropriate channels, and for people to put away with conceit and self-interests. The government will support the reform of the nation by promoting learning at every level. At the same time, the NCPO will maintain an atmosphere that lends itself to public safety and conciliation. This week, I visited the Republic of Korea to join the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan. I met the president of the Republic of Korea, the leaders of ASEAN nations, and figures from the Republic of Koreas private sector. There were exchanges of ideas on the global economy and the economies of various regions, as well as the role of Thailand within the ASEAN Community. During the visit, I pledged to promote trade and investment collaboration, development of infrastructure and regional linkages along the economic corridors, the ASEAN-Republic of Korea strategic partnership, collaboration for sustainable development, cooperation on handling emerging and increasingly complex security threats and collaboration in environmental affairs. Let us turn to the topic of corruption suppression. I welcome the improved standing of Thailand on Transparency Internationals (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). TI is a non-profit global organization with presence in 120 countries. It was established in Germany in 1993 (21 years ago), and Thailand joined its network in 2000 (14 years ago). In the Corruption Perceptions Index for year 2014, Thailands standing improved by 17 places to no. 85, from a total of 175 countries. Last year, Thailand was ranked at no. 102. The country is now no. 12 among 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It is no. 3 among ASEAN countries, after Singapore (no. 7) and Malaysia (no. 50). Although Thailands ranking improved in the eyes of the international organization, the country still needs to strenuously tackle this problem. As head of government, I declared the policies of the government to the National Legislative Assembly on September 12, 2014 when I was appointed to the position of prime minister. The promotion of good governance and the prevention and suppression of corruption, the reduction of disparities, and the reinforcing of the countrys competitiveness were the policies stressed by this government. The issue of corruption prevention and suppression is an urgent national agenda, because corruption is a key source of the countrys various problems. Corruption also causes social disparities and obstructs the improvement of the countrys competitiveness. It also reveals a crisis of virtues and ethics of people in society. All sectors need to pitch in and help to seriously solve this problem. All agencies and organizations must help with this issue. As the head of the executive branch I have expressed a clear and sincere determination to administer state affairs by the principles of good governance. I will not ignore misconducts, and will bring all relevant matters to the justice system. All unlawful activity will then be handled in accordance with judicial procedures. Civil servants must prevent the exploitation of the states gains for any personal interest. They also should beware of acquaintances who might exploit their relationship to exploit others for their own personal gains. I myself and other members of this government are not involved with any matters of personal gain or benefits. Therefore I ask that everybody help with this matter. We are determined to prevent and suppress corruption. As head of the NCPO, I had ordered the setting up of a national anti-corruption committee to foster synergy in preventing and suppressing graft within the state sector. Although this effort existed before, the work was spread across many agencies and there was no primary agency that took care of management matters. Now with this committee, work will be done more quickly and the coordinated anti-graft effort will be accepted by all parties. The committee will coordinate affairs between agencies, making the work quicker. However, things have to be done in accordance with the law and due process. Sometimes work takes times because there is a process in collecting and proving evidence against perpetrators. The prevailing methods of corruption have been developing for a long time and have become advanced. We therefore need to develop our inspection processes to keep up with this current predicament. At the same time, the national anti-graft committee is not redundant. It will become a major mechanism for the prevention of corruption. Emphasis is being placed on improving efficiency in graft prevention and suppression. The committee is comprised of individuals from the NCPO, experts, and representatives from agencies – both public and private – which are involved with graft prevention and suppression. The individuals from the various agencies and organizations will collaboratively think and act to prevent and suppress corruption, and also to augment the governments anti-corruption work. The government has brought into use the Construction Sector Transparency or CoST system to improve the transparency of state enterprises procurements. This will improve the transparency of investments by state enterprises. Disclosure of construction information of large scale projects will now be in accordance with global standards. Without this, accusations – both factual and false – will keep being thrown back and forth between those being alleged of graft. Each case needs to be processed according to evidence. Sometimes when the law is interpreted differently, this leads to difficulties in state administration. The phase two expansion project for Suvarnabhumi Airport, by the Airports of Thailand Plc., will be the pilot project that sees the CoST system implemented. The use of CoST will then be expanded to cover the projects of other state enterprises. The use of the CoST system will reduce for those with authority, the available channels to use for self-gain. Its use will also boost the efficiency of the civil sectors regulation and inspection procedures. It covers the process of TOR issuance, bidding, construction and examining. I have reiterated many times that all relevant parties must act transparently and with accountability in all dimensions. The government has also brought into use Integrity Pacts, where a state agency making the procurement and all private entities that submit their price quotations must pledge, in the contract, to abstain from bribery and to accept scrutiny at all steps. The procuring agency and the entity awarded the contract must allow probes by independent panels manned by experts or those from the civil society sector. The BMTAs procurement of NGV buses and the MRTAs expansion project for the Blue Line will be the pilot projects that will see the integrity pacts implemented. This will allow issues and operational risks to be discovered before a draft bill or a measure is developed to become standard usage by other projects. Concurrently, we have been pushing anti-corruption efforts in all dimensions. To lay down a foundation for national development that thwarts corruption, a number of urgent measures are being emphasized. (1) The protection of the merit system in human resource management and the promotion of work opportunities for capable individuals. (2) The issuance of laws to plug the legal gaps that have been exploited for misconduct, for example the law on facilitation of convenience in receiving state sector services. (3) Provision of additional channels for access and participation by the public, such as the Damrong Tham centers, the complaints centers, and the various types of one-stop service centers. A justice fund is also being established to increase the accessibility to the justice process. The fund, a project by the Ministry of Justice, aids low-income earners in times of legal proceedings. It was inaugurated yesterday. (4) Adjustment and strengthening of measures and tools available for unbiased enforcement of the law. External powers or factors must not interfere with rule of law. Officials will need to be protected, as they may be put under pressures from several sources or influential groups. This also applies to the personal safety of themselves and their families. In order for officials to effectively make law enforcement decisions, I have already given the guideline for this matter. (5) The strengthening of the various anti-corruption organizations. An example is the Southern Border Provinces Clean Organizations project, which consist of activities to encourage awareness of good governance by state agencies in the southern border provinces. The project promotes transparency and scrutiny by the public, and is being piloted by 267 local administrative organizations within the 3 southern border provinces. Importantly, there is the drive to strengthen the NACC, an independent graft preventing and suppressing agency under the stipulations of the Constitution. The drive seeks to allow the NACC to work to its fullest extent. One operational problem is that there are many cases while there relatively few personnel in the NACC. Therefore approval has been made for the workforce to be increased by more than 700 positions, so the NACC may efficiently clear out almost 2,000 cases it was already tasked with before the NCPO came into being. I would like to thank all individuals who are involved in the suppression and the prevention of corruption activities. One example I would like to highlight is the “White School” project. This project is initiated based on the 5 principles of merit that will tackle corruption in Thailand. First is honesty. It is to uphold integrity and morality. One must be able to separate right from wrong and refrain from engaging in all types of fraud. Second is having a social conscience. It is to be conscious and to always think of the society and its members first. One must take responsibility for one’s own actions in order to prevent any damages to the society as a whole. One must also be willing to sacrifice one’s own interests in order to protect that of the public’s. Third is social justice. It is to treat others fairly and equally regardless of gender, nationality, race, social status, and financial status. Fourth is responsibility. It is to understand one’s own role and best perform one’s own duties. One must abide by the rules and regulations and be open to scrutiny. If mistakes occur, one must be willing to accept and amend. Fifth is sufficiency. It is to live our lives based on the principle of sufficiency. One must not be excessive and greedy but instead have self-restraint. One should not take advantage of others. The principle of sufficiency economy was given by His Majesty King who has always put great emphasis on suitability, rationality, and creating immunity to social problems. In many ways this principle is the incubator of the ‘seeds of morality and ethics’ in society, helping Thai youth and children ranging from kindergarteners to high school students to offset against materialism and capitalism. The play, Phra Maha Chanok the Phenomenon, which we all saw also mentioned about these principles. They teach us to be patient, committed, and wise in order to overcome obstacles. Therefore, if we have the wisdom, we will be able to prevent and tackle corruption. The prevention and the suppression of corruption must be included in the reform process in all aspects. The government too has been attempting to administer Thailand based on the sufficiency principle. During this week’s cabinet meeting, a report from the committee in charge of tracking and monitoring the spending of government budgets was presented. The report showed that the government had effectively and efficiently disbursed money for development projects such as the crossroad construction project. As for many other infrastructure projects, the government was able to seal the most cost effective through auctions, which saved the state up to 6% as the amount it had to pay was lower than the median price of 200 million baht. The government and the NCPO have launched many development projects and have been able to cut costs by 10, 20, and 30 percent. I would like to thank all agencies involved for this matter. December 10th marks the Constitution Day in Thailand. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the Thai people as we commemorate the constitutional monarchy that has existed in Thailand for more than 80 years. Since the system of government changed then, Thailand as a democratic nation has had almost 20 constitutions. We might need to consider, as citizens, how well we truly understand this system of governance. Our education standards must be improved so that our political system, our politicians, and the public as voters better understand and learn about public administration. The priority is to do our best to make sure that the next government will carry out public administration based on good governance. This issue should be a concern for all citizens, and not just the matter for one group to handle. The people must have knowledge about good governance - that way elected officials will be of better quality and a government will have the potential to administer effectively. Thailand is like a ship that has been sailing through waves of corruption, perpetrated by people who seek only their own interests, over many years. Therefore, it is necessary for the constitution to be adapted to be more contemporary, with the ability to solve problems that have occurred in the past, and to be suitable for Thailand’s current circumstances. Today, there has yet to be any conclusions on national reform initiatives or the permanent constitution as we will need to further discuss and deliberate more suggestions from every sector. I can assure that all sectors can express their opinions on the new charter and the reform. There are two important factors to becoming a democratic country that we cannot ignore. 1) A democratic country does not simply focus on the holding of elections to provide opportunities for individuals to serve the public or opportunities for members of the public to select who will administer the country or who will represent them in the parliament. A true and viable democracy guarantees that the public can fully exercise their rights in the elections and that the public is entitled and free to choose whoever they want without being forced or manipulated by money or any other forms of vote buying/selling. Today vote buying and selling still exists to varying degrees. While politicians have their strongholds to make sure that they can stay in parliament. This is dangerous predicament and we have to look at the fundamental issues here. 2) A democratic system does not only imply majority rule and enhancing the majority’s stronghold while disregarding the voice of the minority. Therefore the fundamental rights of all must be fully respected. In other words, rights infringement is not acceptable in a democratic system and must be upheld and respected by the majority as well. The majority must respect the minority, and at the same time, the minority must not threaten the majority. After all we are all Thais. Currently, Thailand is in the process of reform in all dimensions. The drafting of the new constitution is a joint effort between the Cabinet, the NCPO, the NLA, the NRC, and the CDC, in an attempt to ensure that the new charter is people-centered, democratic, and sustainable. As I have said many times, people must be the core in all aspects. There will be transparency in every level if the emphasis is on the benefit of the people. Transparency and honesty must start from the bottom to the top. All processes and transactions must be transparent and effective so as to restore a true and sustainable democracy in Thailand. Although the laws have been well written in the past, with almost 20 version of the constitution so far, if there is still a lack of social conscience, a lack of politicians with correct qualifications of being good administrators, and the underdevelopment of a knowledge based society – progress will be difficult to achieve in this field. HM the King once said if everyone performs their duties with transparency and to the best of their ability, the country will move forward in a sustainable way. Civic duties are crucial as is political responsibility and the duties of public service. Knowing one’s own duties is very crucial as each individual has different responsibility. Every individual plays an important role in this society. The country will grow and prosper should we do what we are supposed to. If we fail to do so and the problem continues to linger, the country will remain the same. We will not be able to overcome the challenges that come with a democratic system, such as freedoms without responsibility that lead to the disrespect for the fundamental rights of one another. One more issue I would like to address today is the decreasing prices of agricultural produce. Please rest assured that government officials, including me, are very concerned and have been following up on this issue. The key challenge that we face at the moment is that there are a number of different groups seeking government assistance while the government has to manage many things simultaneously, that has involved spending a considerable amount of the budget to help these people. We are trying to have the money spent more effectively. I am would like to ask all groups, especially agriculturists, to understand that the government is fully aware of your predicament and your grievances, as you continue to hold demonstrations – which may not be an effective way to deal with the problem at the moment. I would like to inform you that global economy has yet to recover, judging from the declining of gross domestic product levels (GDPs) in other countries, which has resulted in implications for Thailand. Another issue is fuel prices. Fuel prices have a lot of influence in agriculture, including the rubber industry. Today, we are trying to mobilize policies and measures to help rubber growers. Although it is not possible at the moment for the government to provide assistance and funds at the same time, the Agriculture Ministry and related agencies are operating the local areas to help the farmers. Progress has been made incrementally in this sector. I would like to ask for cooperation and support from traders, businesspersons, and the private sector in Thailand. Maximizing profits must take into consideration whether this causes distress to the public. Perhaps a smaller gain at this juncture would be of more benefit for all. The government cannot spend more than it is capable of. The government must ensure a central budget as part of the responsibility to be able to respond in times of need, such as for natural disasters – droughts and flood. We must also maintain a budget to be able to take of citizens from all sectors. The public is a stakeholder in the national budget and in all the problems that occur in this country. If everyone accepts this principle, it will be an encouragement and an incentive for the government to work more quickly to tackle all existing problems. We do not want to see anyone struggle or encounter hardship. As for cases of corruption and checks on transparency, progress has been made gradually in terms of legal procedures and due process so that justice will be served. I urge that all of you avoid unjustly denouncing officials that are working on such cases. This is important for the country to move forward. There have been a number of international conferences taking place recently such as the one I attended in South Korea. There will be another meeting this month which is the GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion) meeting where country leaders will gather in the third week of this month. There will also be many other meetings, starting from next year. When we look at the Thai economy, we need to look at it in a wider scale. How can we boost the economy, at all levels - from the bottom to the top? We will need cooperation from all sectors in a bid to resolve problems in every aspect, including legislation, rules, and covenants. You can always file a report or send in your complaints if you see any authorities who fail to do their job. I would like to thank all of you again. December is the month of many auspicious events. It is the month of His Majesty the King’s Birthday Anniversary and I hope that all of us – government, private sector, and the public – celebrate this special moment and wish Their Majesties the King and Queen as well as other members of the Royal Family good health, happiness and longevity with the utmost reverence from all Thai people. Thank you and goodbye
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:26:47 +0000
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