PM ready to drop plans to rebuild reporters' rooms
Reporters' rooms in Government House were spared demolition after pressure was put on Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha by journalists.
Prayut yesterday clarified that the plan was to renovate the rooms rather than demolish them. However, he added that if the renovation move were to be still opposed by the reporters, he would drop the idea.
“Since I became PM, I see you [reporters] living in limited space, so I would like to please you. If you want me to make it better with a good design I will. But if you don’t, I won’t pursue and the money will not be wasted,” he said.
Yuwadee Thanyasiri or “Je Yu”, a veteran reporter who has worked at Government House for more than 30 years, said there were so many problems waiting to be solved in Thai society by the government, why worry about the reporters’ rooms. She said the government’s priority should be solving people’s problem such as rice and rubber prices, living costs and overpriced lottery tickets.
“I feel that it is a waste of money, or that the government is afraid that the budget will not be used,” she said.
On Monday, Colonel Werachon Sukondhapatipak said all three rooms for reporters, including the so-called “Rung Nok Krajok”, would be knocked down and rebuilt in the architectural style of other buildings in the Government House compound.
He said the rebuilding plan had been acknowledged by the PM. The budget would be Bt2 million, as estimated by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning architects, he said, adding that the project would be completed in 60-90 days.
He said the reporters could work in containers prepared to be their working space during the construction.
After news that their rooms would be demolished, journalists at Government House gathered signatures to voice their opposition to the move and submitted it to General Wilas Aroonsri, the prime minister’s secretary-general.
Currently, there are three rooms for reporters in Government House. The best known is the first “Rung Nok Krajok” or “the nest of sparrow”. The octagon building was built in the General Kriangsak Chomanan’s era in 1979 – 35 years ago. It is located on the west side of Thai Khu Fa building, where the PM’s office is situated. The other two rooms are located in the Government House compound.
