ABOUT Politics
Section 44 is proving a powerful tool in reshaping various government agencies A bit of ‘star power’ goes a long way in fund-raising Education Minister Teerakiat is castigated for jumping the gun with his teacher proposal
The power of ‘life and death’
L ately,critics have been noting that perhaps Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been exercising his power under Section 44 of the interim constitution a little too often, particularly to transfer state officials.
Some of those who have been given “the axe” are said to be associates of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, which again has sparked speculation about a fissure in relations between the prime minister and his deputy, a source said.
The prime minister last Wednesday issued an order under Section 44 to transfer Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) director Surachai Eamvachirasakul to an inactive post at the Prime Minister’s Office, with deputy permanent secretary for transport Somsak Hommuang appointed as the BMTA’s acting chief.
One of the reasons for his transfer was the BMTA’s dilly-dallying on whether to scrap the purchase of natural gas vehicle (NGV) buses.
In early February, the BMTA had decided to scrap the contract for the procurement of 489 NGV buses awarded to the Bestlin Group following delays in delivery caused by the firm’s alleged tax avoidance.
However, the BMTA delayed informing Bestlin Group of its decision so as to avoid a possible lawsuit. The BMTA decided to seek legal advice from the Office of the AttorneyGeneral and the Comptroller-General’s Department before making a final decision.
The group was supposed to deliver the buses last December but delays set in after the Customs Department found importer, Super Zara Co, had not paid the appropriate import taxes.
At the moment, 99 buses are in lockdown at Laem Chabang port as a result of the tax scandal. Another 390 buses have been delivered to the BMTA.
Bestlin has come under scrutiny after its affiliate, Super Zara, which was handling the importation of the buses for supplier Bestlin, was accused of making the buses appear as though they were manufactured in and imported from Malaysia, to reap a tax-exemption benefit based on an Asean free-trade agreement.
If the vehicles were made in Malaysia, as claimed by Bestlin, the firm would be eligible for a 40% import duty exemption, or 1.2 million baht per bus.
The Customs Department suspects the vehicles were actually produced and assembled in China.
Bestlin Group chairman Kanis Srivachiraprapha insisted Bestlin ordered the buses from a company in Malaysia.
The seller also presented a document asserting the vehicles originally came from an Asean country, or the so-called “Form D”, Mr Kanis said, adding the document had also been certified by three Malaysian agencies.
The chairman said the Customs Department only provided photos and it claimed the Chinese-made buses were sent to Thailand
via Malaysia. The department has no proof to determine if the Form D was a fake, but accused the company of tax avoidance, Mr Kanis said.
He said the company has not yet received the BMTA’s letter of contract cancellation, but if that happens, it needs to look into the reason behind it and it may end up in a legal battle in court.
But Mr Surachai is no doubt feeling a huge surge of relief as he is no longer expected to handle the NGV purchase and so avoids the risk of being heavily involved in a lawsuit by Bestlin, the source said.
On Feb 23, Gen Prayut issued a Section 44 order to transfer State Railway of Thailand governor Wuthichart Kalyanamitra to the PM’s Office.
Mr Wuthichart is known to be a close associate of Gen Prawit, but it seems his close ties with the minister have not helped to spare him from transfer, another source said.
Run exceeds expectations
A recent long-distance charity run to raise funds for Siriraj Hospital’s new Navamindrapobitr 84th Anniversary Building might have started with a whimper but it definitely ended with a bang — and big bucks.
The week-long run kicked off on March 11 at McCormick Hospital in the northern province of Chiang Mai and ended at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, a distance of about 750 kilometres that wound through 11 provinces.
About 20 medical students laced up their trainers for the run with a support team of 30. The “One and a Half Million Steps for Life” hoped to raise 99.99 million baht in seven days.
The new hospital building, being erected in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 84th birthday, is part of an initiative of the late monarch who wanted the poor to have better access to medical services and treatment at the crowded state-run hospital.
About 7 billion baht is needed to see the project through to the end. Of this, almost 3 billion baht has been given by the government while the remainder is expected to be subsidised via fund-raising events, including the 750-km run.
However, the charity run initially failed to draw people’s attention or money, apparently due to a lack of publicity.
While the event’s organisers, led by Assoc Prof Kirati Charoencholvanit, a specialist in small-incision techniques, may be well-versed in medicine, they are not quite as adept at generating publicity, even for a good cause.
It was not until rock star Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai joined the run by acting as a “trainer” for the participating medical students that it began to attract interest. A runner himself, Toon is also a student of Dr Kirati’s.
Toon, of the band Bodyslam, last year elevated the country’s running community to a new level when he ran 400km from Bangkok to Bang Saphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan in 10 days to raise funds for a community hospital in the district.
He ended up attracting donations of more than 70 million baht.
Despite his involvement, however, the latest charity run looked like it was going to fall short of its goal by several million baht as the amateur runners approached the capital.
With about 4km to go to the finish line, land and property tycoon Kitti Thanakitamnuay of SET-listed property developer Noble Development announced a 10-million-baht donation to help meet the target.
But Mr Kitti did more than just sign a cheque.
Apparently unaware of how to contact the event organisers, he reportedly turned for help to TV anchorwoman Anchalee Paireerak, who gained quite a reputation as a crowd puller during the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee protest.
Mr Kitti’s generosity proved contagious and money suddenly poured in.
It was reported that several business leaders, who joined the closing ceremony of the run event chaired by Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, tore their prepared cheques up and wrote new ones for larger sums.
Gen Prem’s charisma among the powersthat-be and the business community has caused donations to flood in for many charity events in the past. The hospital building project is no exception.
His presence at the closing ceremony, while being highly symbolic for the statesman’s allegiance to the monarchy, also speaks volumes about the “magnetic effect” he still harbours, which is needed to get budgetintensive projects rolling.
On the last day of the run, public donations jumped from 85 million baht to 125 million baht, well beyond the targeted 99.99 million baht.
After the event, Mr Kitti committed himself to the scheme with a promise to help raise the remaining funds needed to build the Navamindrapobitr 84th Anniversary Building — the last building commissioned during the late king’s reign.
Several of Assoc Prof Kirati’s patients, who include a number of celebrities, also became aware of the fund-raising efforts and got in on the act to raise funds.
A lesson to be learned
E ducation Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin sparked a furious debate over the past week for his new policy of allowing graduates who do not hold a degree in education to be given a degree of priority in teacher recruitment.
Dr Teerakiat said the new procedure was aimed at solving the shortage of teachers as many public schools are having a hard time finding specialists in many fields.
According to the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), there is a serious shortage of teachers in subjects such as science, mathematics, English and German.
Each subject is vital for developing a skilled workforce in science, technology and foreign language proficiency that will be needed for the Thailand 4.0 era.
The government has announced its Thailand 4.0 agenda, an economic model based on creativity, innovation, new technology and high-quality services.
Under Dr Teerakiat’s plan, those without a degree in education who pass an exam will be allowed to temporarily teach in schools for a period of two years. They are required to attend necessary training programmes which are a prerequisite to acquiring a permanent teaching licence.
Despite an uproar from teachers and educationalists, there appears to be nothing wrong about the proposed policy in the eyes of the public, parents and even students, according to observers.
The idea was strongly opposed by several academics and education experts who are concerned it will hurt the quality of teaching as students majoring in education now are required to serve as trainee teachers at a school for one year before being entitled to their teacher’s “ticket”.
Yet this requirement does not apply to university students in other fields who plan to take up teaching after graduation. They can still finish their studies in the normal four years.
Criticising the change as unfair, some academics have compared teaching to other professions requiring a professional licence, like doctors and engineers, arguing that all three demand rigorous training.
There was even an effort by some academics to collect 50,000 signatures in a mass petition to oust Dr Teerakiat from his ministerial post.
The opposition has gained traction and it finally prompted Dr Teerakiat to make a concession by allowing students from nonteaching fields to apply for the teaching recruitment exam for only 25 out of 61 subjects, which gives a narrower choice of specialised areas. The rest of the subjects will be reserved for graduates who hold a traditional teacher’s licence.
Some high-ranking Education Ministry officials reckon the reason Dr Teerakiat had to bow to pressure from critics was to avoid a protest by teachers, which would stir up more trouble for the government which already faces opposition to energy issues, according to a ministry source.
“No one is trying to overstate the importance of proper training for our school teachers,” said the source. “If we look at the results of both local and international student-proficiency assessments in recent years, we can see that even the properly trained teachers themselves may not measure up. That’s why we need to attract more brains to the teaching profession.”
Many agree that Dr Teerakiat, who trained as a medical doctor and lived in England for a long time, has a lesson to learn. He needs to tailor his approach to better deal with academics willing to go that extra length to safeguard the teaching profession.