ARMY HAS RESTORED ORDER BUT ECONOMY WEAK, SURVEY SAYS

>> The military government’s ability to stop street protests has surpassed expectations but the country’s slow economy remains the military’s biggest let-down, according to the latest Suan Dusit Poll.

The poll asked 1,264 people nationwide from May 15-19 to rate what is better or worse under the military government on the third anniversary of the National Council for Peace and Order-engineered coup tomorrow.

The survey shows that 73% of people feel the government has managed to stop or pre-empt street protests and political movements; 71% say corruption has been suppressed; 66% say social order has been enforced, with land reclaimed from encroachment.

However, 77% of respondents say the government has not been able to improve the sagging economy and uplift the standard of living; 72% say the regime has not enforced laws effectively, with people’s rights and freedoms curtailed.

On the one more year left to run the country, the respondents wanted the government to speed up economic improvements and curb the high cost of living, take better care of the social welfare schemes and tackle unemployment, and work even harder to stamp out graft.

On his TV programme, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, also head of the NCPO, summed up the government’s performance and that of the NCPO in the last three years by saying that “Thailand is being perceived better by the international community”.

He cited the latest US News and World report saying Thailand has been among the best countries in the world to start new business for two years in a row.

“The government’s performance doesn’t only mean we have to introduce something new. But the country has chronic problems such as corruption. The government has gradually fixed these problems.”

>> It has been three years since the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) seized power and set itself the Herculean task of putting the country’s affairs in order.

Two major political parties, Pheu Thai and the Democrats, claim the military government has produced no remarkable feats.

According to Pheu Thai acting secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai, it is fair to say the regime, with full military support and absolute power, has a better chance than previous governments in seeing through policies and agendas. However, it has not achieved much.

On the economic front, the people are not better off than three years ago, said Mr Phumtham. The government may cite figures to support its claim about growth and investment, but those numbers are not indicators of economic well-being.

“What really determines economic management is not sets of numbers, but how much the people have in their pocket. And what they face are rising costs of living. Businesses hesitate to invest because they lack confidence,” he said.

On efforts to mend political divisiveness, which was used to justify the coup, the regime may have stopped violent clashes in the streets when it stepped in three years ago, but reconciliation seemed to be shelved in the first two years, he said.

It was not until early this year that the government dusted off the issue, Mr Phumtham said.

He says the regime lacks the will to push ahead with healing and unity building and criticised the move as too late.

He said the government had failed to explore the causes of political conflicts and divisiveness. Given the wrong approach, national unity is unlikely to come about.

Human rights and liberties including freedom of expression have remained impaired and things are getting worse with the planned introduction of a controversial media bill, Mr Phumtham said.

The bill, endorsed by the National Reform Steering Assembly, is widely seen by media outlets and government critics as harmful to the freedom of the press as it is disguised as media reform.

Nipit Intarasombat, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, concurred that the regime is lagging behind its economic targets. He said he hears “lots of complaints” from the public.

Political divisiveness and threats of violence remain, he said. Conflicts have moved from the streets to the online realm.

Mr Nipit said due to a lack of public scrutiny of public procurement schemes, corruption is likely to remain as rampant as ever. However, politicians, who have been treading a narrow path since the coup, are not complicit in this, he claimed.

“Politicians dare not make eye contact with anyone these days,” he said.

While expressing support for the nation to have a long-term development plan, Mr Nipit cautioned that a draft law governing national strategy for the next 20 years may cause problems and possible damage as law amendment is a time-consuming process while the changes are very rapid.

He said it is hard to imagine the next Senate, which will be appointed by the NCPO to serve during the transitional period, passing an amendment sponsored by elected MPs.

If passed into law, the bill would establish a national strategy committee as a de facto “superboard” to implement national strategy, with various committees set up to design specific action plans. Any proposals must be in compliance with national strategy.

The draft, hailed by the regime as a key piece of legislation to lay the foundation for national development, has passed its first reading in the National Legislative Assembly and is due to be enforced from August.

Mr Nipit said the regime has failed to adhere to its goal to initiate and drive reforms, strayed off course and become overwhelmed with routine work. Moreover, its reform agenda focuses on politicians when it should have covered all sectors. “I think it has done a fair job in keeping peace and order. Economic management and reforms are completely different,” he said.