Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has rated the performance of his military-installed government over the past three months as "unsatisfactory", saying its achievements so far won't ensure security and sustainability.
Selfie-aware: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha personally helps out media members who want a holiday photo at a traditional New Year exchange of gifts and banter at Government House. (Post Today photo)
As the government has suffered recently in public opinion polls of its performance, with many wondering if it is achieving all that was promised, Gen Prayut said Thursday that if he doesn't solve the country's problems, he might well be considered a "traitor".
Speaking at a formal presentation of the government's achievements from Sept 12 through Dec 12, held at Government House Thursday, Gen Prayut said the government hasn't made sufficient progress on security and creating sustainable reform. It will need to work harder to meet the deadlines it has set for itself.
The junta has struggled to juggle its main work and extra burdens that couldn't be tackled through bureaucratic authority alone.
Gen Prayut said the government would have to work harder at maintaining peace and order, integrating the management of the country, and reform. He said he is not dragging his feet, but how fast the government will go depends on other parties, not just himself.
"I don't want to hear any more questions as to when the general election will be held. The time frame of everything is given in the constitution. It now rests on all of you, not me alone," Gen Prayut said.
"I'm here as a referee or a headmaster who will accelerate the work. Sometimes, there may have been much rushing which led to misunderstanding," he said.
"But I can assure you that before I make any order, I've studied hard on the matter."
The government has divided its mission into three stages, he said.
The first stage is when the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) took over the country, the second stage is a period of one year dedicated to reform work, and the third stage is to bed down the previous changes.
The country is now in the reform stage. He said there is not much time left to get everything done as planned. The government has said it hopes to return democracy to the people with national elections in early 2016.
Every side is well aware there are problems that may take time to resolve and in which differences in opinions will have to be mended by accelerating the judicial process to win public trust, reduce conflicts and form unity, said Gen Prayut.
He said he has never interfered with the prosecution in cases related to political conflicts. Rather, he has merely ensured the judicial process runs its course.
He expects to see clear progress in all of those cases in the next three months. "If the causes of the conflicts have yet to be dealt with in the judicial process, the problems won't really be solved," he said. "And all I can do is suppress them from intensifying, which will be dangerous to democracy."
Members of cabinet later listed the government's so-called New Year gifts to the people as among the government's achievements in the past three months.
Asked about law and order over the New Year festival, Gen Prayut said martial law will be fully enforced if new violence erupts and involves the use of weapons. "Martial law is for ensuring peace, not for imprisoning or executing people," Gen Prayut said.
Those police who fail to arrest suspected criminals if violence erupts in their precincts will face punishment, he said. "We have to overcome this democratic trap. Our country has been through numerous political changes and military coups. In the future we may not be able to choose to solve problems this way again," he said.
"Since May 22, I have had to step in to re-regulate everything because I knew the country couldn't move forward and should not be left that way for the sake of the next generation," said Gen Prayut.
"If I fail, technically I am a traitor. We have to succeed now or else the problems will become even worse," he said.
Gen Prayut insisted he never thought to be in power for personal benefit. "There are rumours that 50% of any approved project must turn up as a kickback to the NCPO. That's nonsense. My colleagues and I never get even a satang," he said.
Gen Prayut said some media organisations are too keen to criticise his government. For that reason, the media must also be reformed.
Regarding investment, Gen Prayut said Thailand will promote sustainable investment and the "green economy". The Board of Investment (BoI), chaired by Gen Prayut, Thursday approved 13 projects worth a combined 21 billion baht.
Most of them are renewable energy development projects. Investors have rushed to submit applications after the BoI announced plans to implement a new investment policy next year.
Hiranya Sujinai, BoI's acting secretary-general, said applications seeking BoI privileges are expected to reach 1.3 trillion baht this year, higher than the previous forecast of 800 billion baht.
"In just the first 19 days of this month, applications for investment worth 300 billion baht were submitted," she said.