Govt to announce its achievements

He said the first day will feature exhibitions by various ministries and departments, and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputies will announce the achievements of ministries under their supervision. A summary in Thai and English will also be distributed to the National Legislative Assembly, the media and members of the public.

Suwaphan said the committee expediting the implementation of government policies and reform plans must act as a coordinator to push for reforms with six newly set-up reform steering committees that the Cabinet appointed on Tuesday.

According to Prayut, the six panels will direct policies to local organisations and cooperate with the Interior Ministry. The local organisations, named as “pracha rat”, include sheriffs and village headmen, with district chiefs expected to play an increasing role in assisting provincial governors.

The Cabinet had earlier resolved that every ministry should draw up the second-stage operation by splitting into four periods. The meeting resolved that the secretary of the committee create a framework for every ministry in line with reform plans and submit it to the meeting before December 14.

Meanwhile, National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) spokesman Apichart Jongsakul said the NRSA had come up with new guidelines on media reform, including online media, to be used together with the National Reform Council (NRC)’s guidelines.

The NRC had earlier mapped out guidelines for the media and state agencies related to the media to follow: Liberty comes with responsibility; prevention of media intervention; and establishment of efficient media control.

For online media, the NRSA wants to stop the dissemination of information that is unethical, distorted and instigates social turmoil. The NRSA believes the problems stem from lax law enforcement and technology; control mechanism of the Internet is with the private sector; the government policy to expand Internet use without prevention and control policies.

The NRSA appointed three subcommittees on media reform – a subcommittee on print media headed by Prapa Hetrakul; a subcommittee on radio, television and telecommunications, led by Air Chief Marshal Kanit Suwannate; a subcommittee on online media, headed by Pol Maj-General Pisit Paoin.