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A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
A political slice of the thai mango. Seems bloated (and convoluted) route to new charter and free electorate next year, no? :p

NCPO keeps special powers over govt
Interim charter grants coup-makers amnesty
Bangkok Post Published: 2/07/2014 at 03:59 AM
Newspaper section: News

The National Council for Peace and Order (NPCO) has chosen to retain certain special powers over the interim government to deal with security issues under the provisional constitution which will be unveiled soon.



These special powers do not rest with the interim prime minister but are given to the NCPO chief, junta sources, who have seen the draft of the interim charter, told the Bangkok Post Tuesday.

They are not the normal administrative powers that belong to a prime minister, but focus on security issues and can be invoked to combat threatening influences, the sources said.

It is necessary for the NCPO chief to retain power because the security situation has not yet returned to normal, the sources added.

The drafting of an interim charter paves the way for a non-elected MP or government official to be appointed prime minister.

It will be presented for NCPO approval, before being submitted to His Majesty the King for royal endorsement later this month.

Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, National Council for Peace and Order commander, will keep most of his peacekeeping and security power under the military-approved interim constitution. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

The source said the NCPO's legal advisory panel had suggested that the interim charter contain a section conferring special powers onto the NCPO.

These powers are equal to, or even superior to, the powers of the interim government.

Such a section is "standard practice" and has been included in all previous interim charters after past coups, except the 2006 interim charter, which had no such stipulation, the sources said.

The section of the new interim charter investing the NCPO chief with special powers was modelled on Section 27 of the 1991 interim constitution.

The 1991 interim charter was enacted after the National Peace Keeping Council (NPKC), led by then-Supreme Commander Gen Sunthorn Kongsompong, seized power from the Chatichai Choohavan government on Feb 23, 1991.

Section 27 of the 1991 interim charter gave the NPCK control over the interim government at the time, in terms of decision-making on security issues.

Another important feature of the new interim charter is to grant amnesty to members of the NCPO who seized power from the caretaker Yingluck Shinawatra government on May 22.

Amnesty will also be granted to those who acted on NCPO orders.

The sources said the interim charter contains 44-45 sections and authorises the NCPO to appoint a 200-member national legislative assembly responsible for enacting legislation, and choosing an interim prime minister.

Under the interim charter, the speaker of the national legislative assembly, not the NCPO chief, is authorised to submit the name of the interim prime minister for royal endorsement.

The interim charter also details the establishment of a 250-member reform council tasked with outlining the framework for reforms and drafting the new and permanent constitution.

The permanent constitution, which will be drawn up by a 35-member charter-drafting committee, will not be put to a referendum as the previous 2007 charter was, the sources added.

The NCPO's legal advisory panel advised the junta that putting the new draft charter to a public referendum offers the advantage that, if approved, any attempts to abolish or rewrite it would be more difficult.

The Constitutional Court set a precedent for this on July 13, 2012 when it ruled against the Pheu Thai Party-sponsored charter amendment bill seeking to rewrite the 2007 charter.

The court said the 2007 constitution was endorsed by a public referendum, so any attempt to abolish it and rewrite a new one must be approved in a similar fashion.

However, the NCPO was still concerned that if put to referendum, there is a risk the draft charter might be rejected.

A referendum is a lengthy process which will only delay promulgation of the new charter further, the sources said.

The sources said the reform council is expected to spend 45-60 days working on the framework for reforms, which will then be forwarded to the charter drafting committee to use as the basis for drafting the permanent charter.

The constitution drafting panel is expected to need 120 days before presenting the draft charter to the reform council for a vote of approval.

The draft charter will then be submitted to the King for endorsement.

The entire process is expected to take nine months, the sources said.

Under the interim charter, the current judges of the Constitutional Court will remain in their positions, though their only task will be to rule on the constitutionality of legislation.

Meanwhile, Charae Phanprueng, secretary-general of the House of Representatives, said the House secretariat is preparing parliament office buildings to accommodate incoming members of the national legislative assembly and the reform council.

The House secretariat is ready to support their work, he added.

About the author

Writer: Post Reporters
Position: Reporters
 
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yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Yankee snub for Junta. Not surprising, mai pen rai response -proclaimed no loss of face? :p

NCPO: No July 4 invite, no problem
Bangkok Post Published: 4/07/2014 at 01:55 PM

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) understands why its leaders were not invited to the United States embassy Independence Day celebration in Bangkok on Thursday night, a spokesman said.

Col Winthai Suvaree said the US embassy might have to take precautions for such a public gathering. This was understandable.

The celebration is scheduled at the Conrad Bangkok Hotel on Friday night, to celebrate the US national day, July 4. No generals from the NCPO were invited.
Col Winthai said formal meetings between the US ambassador to Bangkok and representatives of Thai military organisations continue at appropriate levels.

"I confirm that most cooperation at the armed forces level, through many projects with the US, Australia and European countries, proceed as usual," the spokesman said.

Those present in the US embassy's party on Thursday night included ML Panadda Diskul, permanent secretary of the PM's Office, NCPO spokesman Col Werachon Sukondhapatipak, and many key figures and supporters of the past Yingluck Shinawatra government
 

dredd

Alfrescian
Loyal
I think the military is the best thing for Thailand. I've noticed how calm everything is now,,, just the way it should be. western-style democracy is not for every country.
 

Froggy

Alfrescian (InfP) + Mod
Moderator
Generous Asset
Had a light dinner at the popular Pluit night stalls. Its mainly roadside stalls and coffeshops serving Chinese hawker food and the residents in Pluit are mainly Chinese. To give you an idea of the place heres a video.

[video=youtube;BrQiTqvY4Rg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrQiTqvY4Rg&list=UUYBuHj2lK4-jb6Tg8qnEHTA[/video]

Went into a coffeeshop serving Amei which is the equivalent of our mee rebus



The taste is a lilttle sweeter than our mee rebus but its much richer actually when I ate this it reminds me of mee rebus of my primary school days I guess its very traditional old style. The differences in serving are it does not contain any tahu and with only a quarter egg and also no green cut chili. Cost is 25,000 rupiah or $2.40.



Ordered some popiah too comes in fried and non-fried at 9,000 rupiah each



And a small plate of crispy charsiew 40,000 rupiah or about $3.70

 

Froggy

Alfrescian (InfP) + Mod
Moderator
Generous Asset
Breakfast at Clementi - famous rojak

Owner said he's been doing this for 28 years now


Roasted u-char-kway, tau-pok, jiu-he, cod fish jiu-he shiok man, cost $8.70


Very generous with the hay-koh sauce and peanuts


gosh I missed this place, used to live here 5 years with very fond and also tragic memories
 

jubilee1919

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
The taste is a lilttle sweeter than our mee rebus but its much richer actually when I ate this it reminds me of mee rebus of my primary school days I guess its very traditional old style. The differences in serving are it does not contain any tahu and with only a quarter egg and also no green cut chili. Cost is 25,000 rupiah or $2.40.



I recall the mee rebus of way back when also include deep fried grago (tiny shrimps) and those that add a dash of curry powder is top of my list of power mee rebus.:smile:

Nowadays no one selling mee rebus with grago toppings. The last one that did was in Bedok South Market, but I read recently she retired.:(
 

Froggy

Alfrescian (InfP) + Mod
Moderator
Generous Asset
Used to like this stall in the same coffeeshop



so try it again, ordered meatball and lean meat and no noodle told me $6



taste changed somewhat, seems tastier last time or could it be I like the ones in Bangkok more now?

 

Froggy

Alfrescian (InfP) + Mod
Moderator
Generous Asset
Had Hindu (non-vegetarian) food to and from Singapore on board SQ this latest trip. BKK-SQ is from Sunarnabhumbi Airport's kitchen and SQ-BKK is from Changi Airport's kitchen, let's have a look

Thai kitchen - chicken curry


Singapore's kitchen - mutton curry


Mutton is much nicer. Also the Singapore's dhal is very good.

This desert looks nice, I tried it but too sweet for me.
 

rotikosong

Alfrescian
Loyal
Had Hindu (non-vegetarian) food to and from Singapore on board SQ this latest trip. BKK-SQ is from Sunarnabhumbi Airport's kitchen and SQ-BKK is from Changi Airport's kitchen, let's have a look

Thai kitchen - chicken curry


Singapore's kitchen - mutton curry


Mutton is much nicer. Also the Singapore's dhal is very good.

This desert looks nice, I tried it but too sweet for me.

The desert is gulab jamun. SQ appears hands down better than TG but I've only flown TG and have never flown SQ

Taxi update from airports from recent visit. As discussed earlier, I almost always take a cab from the departures level of either DMK or BKK. Only time I go to the official taxi rank is if I need to get a Toyota Inova taxi van. The recent military coup raised questions if this is no explicitly prohibited.

DMK: no problems. There are no turnstiles and nobody bats an eyelid. The airport security guy even pointed out the next free taxi for me,
BKK: again no problem. There is a military-uniformed guy sitting at departures + multiple private airport "security" contractors near the turnstiles but neither the military guy nor the rest seem to care. Again always a couple of taxis waiting and some turnstiles, despite posted signs to the contrary, can turn both ways. People were taking cabs in full view.

Of course, this option is only for those who know where you are going to in Bangkok and can speak some minimal Thai. Unlike the official taxi rank, no help in translating addresses and locations. The upside is you save 50B and a lot of time.
 

rotikosong

Alfrescian
Loyal
Sumiko Tan's column in Sunday Times yesterday mentions a Bangkok food tour she went on recently. Too bad she misspelled "Bangrat" [sic] - she should fact check before name dropping wantonly (pun haha).
 

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Sumiko Tan's column in Sunday Times yesterday mentions a Bangkok food tour she went on recently. Too bad she misspelled "Bangrat" [sic] - she should fact check before name dropping wantonly (pun haha).
See you caught up with sinkie broadsheet.

Good 1 on her wantonly stuffing her face = sexually immodest or promiscuous way.
 
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