Davies urges public say on unity process

US ambassador Glyn Davies raised an “indepth” discussion on Thailand’s reconciliation process and democracy roadmap with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Mr Davies visited Gen Prawit who is also defence minister at the Defence Ministry yesterday.

He said later they had discussed some issues in depth, including the political reconciliation process and public participation, the roadmap to democracy and the progress Thailand has made.

“I repeated the same points that we made during the recent visit of Adm Harris, and he gave me a good sense of the plans of the government going forward,” the ambassador said.

He was referring to the visit of Adm Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, for the Cobra Gold military exercise in mid-February.

The commander, the most senior US military officer to visit Thailand since the 2014 coup, emphasised the importance of restoring democracy.

The ambassador said the US hoped the reconciliation process “is conducted in ways that allow for participation of the Thai people in the process”.

“I hope there is more political space opened up for there to be conversations about these issues that affect all people in Thailand. We talked in-depth about the situation,” he said.

Asked about the US stance if the general election is delayed, he said it is up to Thailand to fix the election date.

Mr Davies added he only wished Thailand would get back on the road to democracy.

Mr Davies also said they discussed broad areas of cooperation between the US and Thailand, including health cooperation, law enforcement cooperation, people-topeople ties and economic cooperation.

“It was a valuable meeting. I look forward to many more contacts with the deputy prime minister in the future,” the ambassador said.

Speaking after the meeting, Defence Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Kongcheep Tantrawanich quoted Gen Prawit as saying the government was opening forums to listen to public views nationwide on the reconciliation process.