BANGKOK, Jan 7 — Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said he would ask all National Reform Council (NRC) committees next week to achieve concrete reform in three months.
He said that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha set the timeframe and assigned him and Prime Minister’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuwattana to supervise 11 areas of national reform.
Pracha Terat, head of the NRC special committee on public hearings, and committee members met by video conference with provincial advisors and sub-committee members to discuss the organization of public hearings on national reform.
There will be 11 such forums to cover clusters of provinces.
The Office of the Election Commission will help organize them and the forums will also draw representatives from local organizations such as universities, courts and government agencies that will propose reform ideas. The forum organization is expected to start in February.
Participants in the video conference agreed that the forums will focus on suppressing corruption, preventing vote-buying and efforts to reduce social inequality.
In addition, the Public Relations Department is holding phone-in programs in all 77 provinces to gather public opinion. The programs are set at 8.30pm.
These aim at allowing the public to have its say in national reform and share ideas about the preferred future of their families, localities and the nation in the next two decades.
