Govt claims social advances since taking over

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: The Government has made several achievements on the social front over the past six months, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Cabinet members claimed yesterday.

The current administration started working on September 12. In the following six months, the government has been serious about boosting educational quality, reducing social inequality, improving laws and tackling various social issues, according to official statements.

“We have recognized the need to solve the shortage of teachers and enhance teachers’ abilities,” PM Prayut said, jokingly adding that Thai students these days could not even do math problems in their head.

The PM added that broadcasts of classes conducted by good tutors like Kru Ou (Uraiwan Siwakul, a famous chemistry tutor) would be useful to students in rural areas.

This idea reflects his government’s plan to use technology to improve rural children’s access to quality education. PM Prayut also said he was interested in promoting life-long education.

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Yutthawong backed Prayut’s remarks on education policy, noting that the government had an educational “superboard” that focused on student centered teaching, life-long education and students’ academic success and employability.

“We are focusing on the education of teenage mothers and the elderly, because these groups are the most problematic, and we have to prepare our country for the upcoming aging society,” Mr Yongyuth said.

“As for employability, we have a bilateral system for high-school students. They will have an opportunity to train in the business [they intend to get jobs in] alongside their studies in school. About 8,000 businesses have joined the project,” he said.

He also said that to improve the healthcare system, an organization to oversee the National Health Security Fund, the Social Security Fund and the Government Officers Welfare Fund would be set up. The organization will have the duty of taking care of these three funds to work together properly and to same standards.

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, meanwhile, said the government had tackled land disputes by granting 7,200 rai (1,150 hectares) of land in forest areas to 1,200 families in Chiang Mai and allocating 105,000 plots to farmers. He also said the government had successfully tackled the illegal trade of wild-animal products and problems related to wildfires and haze.

On this matter, PM Prayut said people who were allowed to use forestland had to take care of the forest and warned against more encroachment.

Commenting on labor issues, Deputy PM Prawit said the government had sent three reports to the US State Department to use when updating its Trafficking in Persons report, and the feedback was good. The government has also been complying with the European Union’s rules against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to ensure that Thailand’s exports of seafood products to the EU are not banned.

PM’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana said 72 laws had been enacted by the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly, 28 bills were undergoing scrutiny and another 258 were awaiting legislation.

Among the laws Suwaphan said were either essential or useful for Thai society were the anti-human-trafficking law, legislation against loan-sharking and related to debt collection, and laws related to social security, plus civil liability for causing petrol-related pollution, consumer protection from harmful cosmetics, public gatherings, building regulations and employee provident funds.

Despite “good intent”, Surapong Kongchantuk, from the Lawyers Council, said he thought the regime was tackling forced labor wrongly. “The government should rather focus on destroying human smuggling, which is the origin of the problem.”

— Phuket Gazette Editors