Proposal to compensate those affected by political rallies

He added that the children of those killed in the protests would be entitled to social welfare. 

The proposal set clear guidelines on compensation for victims of political protests during the 2004-2010 and 2013-2014 periods.

The scheme will cover victims whose livelihood was affected due to disability, those who sustained injuries and have dependants, and those who lost assets. 

Wissanu said the government wanted to provide support to these victims as part of its policy to bring about national reconciliation. 

He said the government would first consider those affected by political events in 2013 and 2014, as the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has filed charges against members of the previous elected government’s cabinet for paying too much in compensation to victims affected by incidents during the 2004-2010 period. 

“We must suspend compensations for this group because we cannot repeat the same mistakes,” he said, adding that the proposal to provide compensation was in line with the Council of State’s guidelines and what the NACC has set. 

Guidelines on providing compensation are based on four acts, including the Social Security Act. 

“We did not come up with the figure from our imagination, but have based our compensation on these laws and earlier compensation given to victims of violence in the South,” he said. 

He added that the government had learned that those affected by protests during the 2004-2010 period had been given some compensation. However, the amounts provided were vastly different, with some getting a pittance and others getting as much as Bt7.5 million. 

“We have not thought of taking back the money from those who received [the Bt7.5-million compensation] because we don’t know if it is right or wrong. We have to wait for the NACC and the courts to decide,” he said.

He added that once the Cabinet approved this proposal, the compensation would be handed out immediately. 

The amount spent on the compensation is expected to be hundreds of millions of baht, the deputy PM said, adding that the Yingluck Shinawatra government had not spent all of the Bt2 billion allocated for compensation and that the remainder had been added to the state coffers. 

He said state agencies would first check the list of victims to prevent double payments.