Thai government roasted by opposition bloc, Prayut called out for mismanagement

Corruption. An economic meltdown. Budget mismanagement. Opposition parties are calling out the government’s failures under the leadership of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, and a joint statement outlining failures over the past three years, including mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic, was released by Thailand’s six-party opposition bloc.

In the recent statement, opposition parties highlighted what they say was mismanagement by the prime minister during the pandemic, leading to business closures and economic downturn, and even massive corruption over a medical glove procurement scam which Thai PBS says led to the loss of more than 100 billion baht in government funds. Back in early-September, Prayut had been accused of mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic and answered questions from MPs during a four-day no-confidence debate.

Prayut’s government is also being accused of restricting people’s rights and liberties during peaceful pro-democracy protests. Emergency orders limiting the number of those allowed to gather in public, said to be in an effort to prevent Covid-19, were imposed at peak times during the pro-democracy movement. One order was imposed before dawn one morning as protesters were gathered outside the Government House to put pressure on Prayut to resign. Several were arrested.

Another issue mentioned in the statement was the multibillion baht lawsuit filed by a company in Australia over the shutdown of a gold mine in Thailand. Other issues were a failed crackdown on the illicit drug trade, a record level of borrowing due to budget mismanagement, and a drop in the ranking of Thailand’s education system in comparison to other Southeast Asian nations.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World