Mobile meetings just for show
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cabinet are set to take a trip to three provinces to the west of Bangkok, namely Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Suphan Buri tomorrow for a mobile cabinet meeting. The two-day trip will be the first mobile cabinet meeting after Gen Prayut formed his Palang Pracharath-led coalition government in early July this year. Prime Minister Prayut is already familiar with such trips because he led several mobile meetings during the NCPO-led period.
It was reported the government likely feels the need to visit these provinces to reverse the impression that, despite economic prominence and their close vicinity to Bangkok, they have been largely overlooked since Gen Prayut started running the country five years ago. Many observers hold the view the prime minister seems to give priority to the North and Northeast due to their strategic importance, as the two regions are a typical stronghold of his political arch-rival, Thaksin Shinawatra, who happened to initiate the idea of the mobile cabinet meeting.
In principle, a mobile cabinet meeting is a noble idea as it gives the leaders a chance to learn about local needs and subsequently prioritise the issues and allocate a budget to cater to them accordingly. But in reality, those involved with such meetings seem to attach too much importance to ceremonial elements and fanfare with spectacular gimmicks, aimed at boosting the leaders’ popularity. Worse, some meetings appear to simply be occasions for the leaders to go on spending sprees, mostly for political gains.
Some previous mobile cabinet meetings left Gen Prayut, the thenregime-leader, embarrassed. On one of those meetings in August 2017, he visited a village in Sa Kaeo’s Khok Sung district to provide the villagers with land rights certificates.
The trip was designed to be one of the highlights of his upcountry mobile cabinet meeting that began in Nakhon Ratchasima in the Isan region. For Gen Prayut’s arrival, the barren village was turned into a liveable place overnight, with necessary public utilities like tap water and electricity fully implemented overnight. But when the prime minister left, the villagers realised that the functioning utilities were only for show, in what looks like a Potemkin situation.
Some meetings appear to simply be occasions for the leaders to go on spending sprees.
With regard to tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, local media has reported Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob will propose a few motorway projects linking the three provinces under the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) scheme which is worth over 100 billion baht, together with other infrastructure development projects.
However, it is unfortunate the meeting has been accompanied by reports that the provincial authorities in Ratchaburi, the first leg of the visit, wanted three major schools near the meeting venue to be closed, citing concerns over traffic.
Only when the news leaked, causing an uproar, did the authorities decide to adjust the closure plan.
The proposed school closure, like the practice during the recent Asean summit in Bangkok and Nonthaburi, indicates how the local mass transport in the three provinces is so inefficient and inadequate that a visit by the prime minister will interrupt the daily lives of local people.
State authorities had no second thoughts about compromising students’ education and closing schools to facilitate the visits of leaders like Gen Prayut.
There is another crucial problem that should not slip the attention of the prime minister and his cabinet : the air pollution associated with sugar production, particularly in Kanchanaburi and Suphan Buri.
The two provinces have several sugar cane plantations, and local farmers destroy the farm waste through open burning. The PM2.5 fine dust crisis is partially blamed on such practices each year, while public complaints are largely ignored.
As Gen Prayut’s visit is close to the sugar cane harvesting season, it would be better if he opened his eyes to the plight of local people who have to put up with the polluted air.
The prime minister should be better informed of the problem, and should form a solid, efficient plan to tackle it, reducing open burning in fields to zero so that the fine dust will not be an issue.
However, it should be no surprise if the dust issue is swept under the rug, as local authorities are busy trying to turn the place Gen Prayut is scheduled to visit into another Potemkin village.