Robust response from NCPO to ‘happiness’ poll finding, attacks on its achievements

Suriyasai Katasila, a former demonstrator of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, whose actions helped provoke the military coup on May 22, 2014, also joined the chorus of disapproval slamming the reform and reconciliation efforts of the NCPO, saying that no real concrete progress had not been made in these two essential areas.
NCPO spokesman Colonel Piyapong Klinpan, speaking on Monday in response to the recent poll showing people had become less happy, said that the survey should have been conducted into other aspects, too. 
As it steps into its fourth year in power, the NCPO is working with determination and sacrifice for the country and the people, he said.
The spokesman also insisted that the NCPO was working in accordance with the law and the Constitution. 
It had made a promise to the Thai people and now it was following its road map, he said, adding that while some issues had not yet been settled, they were on the way to being so.
In response to former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who posted on her Facebook page asking for the regime to keep its promise, Piyapong protested that in the past three years, if it were not for the NCPO and all the officials, who else could have done all this work, especially the carrying out of the reform process, which was under way and in line with the set time frame.
Besides the “happiness” poll and the ousted PM’s comments, the NCPO has also been challenged by the civil-society Internet Law Reform Dialogue, better known as iLaw, which said the NCPO in the past three years had laid out firm a foundation for security, but had weakened the scrutiny system.
Piyapong responded that all the NCPO ever did was to ensure everyone was under the law. 
It would take time to prove iLaw’s criticism an incorrect understanding, he said.
“The NCPO has taken the time in the past three years to take care of the people, as well as keep peace and order. It has not been in vain,” the spokesman said. “[The NCPO] has been building up faith among the people.”
Regarding the weakened economy, it is also interwoven with the regional and global economic levels, he said, adding that the impact seen in the Kingdom was a consequence of such interdependency. 
However, the NCPO continues to try very hard to tackle economic issues at all levels, especially to help those in the agricultural sector, he emphasised.
There have been many schemes to assist the people on a continuous basis, the colonel said. Although many might still feel uncomfortable about the progress made, he believed the situation would be ameliorated eventually.
Meanwhile, Suriyasai, who marched with the PDRC three years ago and played a role in prompting the coup, said the national divide remained persistent despite the fact that it was the main task for the NCPO to tackle.
He argued that the ostensible peace currently seen in the country was only the result of suppression via the absolute power of the NCPO. 
After normality resumed, the symptoms would resurface again, especially at the time of the election, he predicted.
While the academic admitted that the NCPO had acknowledged the need to bring about reform and hence established the Por Yor Por super-committee, he said that in the three months since it had come into existence, the work was still loaded at the department level and he had seen no essential change in the structure.