After prohibiting anti-establishment red shirts from opening charter referendum watch centres, Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, deputy junta head and Defence Minister, has defended the use of army cadets to promote the referendum, maintaining that the authorities are not biased.    

On Wednesday morning, 15 June 2016, the Election Committee of Thailand (ECT) and the Royal Thai Army organised an event at the Government Complex, Bangkok, to promote a programme to use Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, who are high school and college students undergoing military training, to promote the referendum on the junta-sponsored draft constitution.

At the event, Gen Chalermchai Sitthisat, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), confirmed that the referendum on the draft constitution will be held as initially planned in accordance with the NCPO’s road map.

He said that the Royal Thai Army will take a primary role in promoting and facilitating the draft charter referendum on 7 August 2016, adding that he is worried about certain political dissidents who are trying to destroy the credibility of the referendum.

Gen Prawit Wongsuwan at the same event said that the promotion of the draft charter referendum by ROTC students will not be biased, maintaining that the main purpose of the programme is merely to encourage people to turn up on referendum day.

When asked by the media whether using ROTC students to campaign about the draft charter referendum but barring red shirts from doing the same task or opening referendum watch centres could be viewed as bias, Gen Prawit said that people should not view it that way.

The Defence Minister told the media that the authorities are fair in listening to opinions from all sides about the draft constitution and the upcoming referendum.

The plan to use ROTC students to promote the charter referendum was introduced by the Royal Thai Army in early 2016.

Under the plan, in addition to promoting the referendum, ROTC students will be deployed at polling stations to inform people about the draft constitution to foster understanding about the draft as people participate in the referendum.

In February 2016, Gen Teerachai Nakwanich, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, said that the initiative to use army cadets as referendum campaigners is part of ROTC policies to foster the volunteer spirit among military students in order to build up ‘a strong mass who worship the monarchy to support the Thai Army.’