The Interior Minister has said the junta will collect the ID numbers of anyone who gives feedback on the four questions about elections posed by junta head Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to the public last week.
On 26 May 2017 during his weekly televised address, Prayut asked four questions seeking feedback on the issue of elections.
The four questions were:
- Will the next election lead to ‘good governance’?
- If not, what should be done?
- Is it right to focus only on elections, at the expense of the country’s future and other issues?
- Should politicians who engage in inappropriate behaviour be allowed to run in elections again?
The leading questions were widely seen as reflecting the junta’s desire to remain in power.
The junta has said people can send their answers through the Damrongtham Centres nationwide of the Interior Ministry. The caveat is that the junta will collect the ID numbers of respondents to ensure that answers reflect the opinions of real Thai people.
On 2 June 2017, Minister of Interior Gen Anupong Paochinda promised more centres to facilitate prompt feedback to the junta. The centres will summarise responses and send them back to the junta every 10 days.
“I can’t order Damrongtham Centres to write untrue information,” said Anupong. “We will try our best to get true information, and this means people have to ... identify themselves by their ID cards.”
Gen Anupong Paochinda
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