Dr. Liaep” reveals that the Prime Minister has asked the policy advisory board to comment directly without being shy. He expects the government to last its full term and is preparing to propose urgent measures to provide flood relief and debt relief, pushing SMEs to the world market. He is confident that he will not be outdated.
Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee, Deputy Chairman of the Policy Advisory Board to the Prime Minister, revealed after the first meeting with the Prime Minister at his home in Phitsanulok that the Prime Minister thanked the five advisors who agreed to be advisors because all of them had experience in national administration. The Prime Minister is ready to listen to all suggestions and asked that they present their opinions honestly, both agreeing and disagreeing, in order to receive comprehensive information.
The consultants suggested what to do next: 1. All 5 consultants have experience working on policies and driving various businesses in the past. Therefore, everyone will give advice not
limited to their areas of expertise, but will drive the issues that they are particularly good at. Mr. Thongthong Chandrangsu is interested in reforming the civil service system to make it easier to serve the people. Mr. Phongthep Thepkanjana is an expert in public law, so he will help look at various laws to facilitate driving the civil service system. Mr. Suphawit Saicheua is skilled in economics and is interested in presenting economic policies.
As for me, I have worked in public health and soft power in the past and am interested in doing this seriously. Meanwhile, Mr. Pansak Vinyarat, the advisory chairman, has experience in politics and policy presentations with many prime ministers and has experience in foreign affairs and generating income for the grassroots.
Dr. Surapong said that in addition, the five advisors also emphasized the integration of knowledge from the government and private sectors. Therefore, from now on, Phitsanulok House will be used as a place to invite responsible persons from bot
h the government and private sectors to meet and discuss in order to present ideas to be set as policies.
“We think that today we will not only think about what to do, but also how to do it. We must have a clear plan that can drive the entire civil service system and the economic system. We must set a clear direction to deliver results in the future. Therefore, we have determined that there should be continuous meetings, with the Prime Minister meeting once a week, every Thursday, to discuss interesting policies in a straightforward manner and produce clear results,” said Dr. Surapong.
Dr. Surapong also said that the advisory team also initially said that the important thing is to issue economic measures to help flood victims, which already have preliminary ideas. If the cabinet is informed, it is believed that a decision will be made quickly. Those affected will benefit very quickly. Effective debt relief measures do not only focus on financial support. They must also be income-generating measures. There a
re preliminary guidelines, which must be presented to the prime minister first. Regarding how to make Thai SMEs seriously export abroad, we have some measures that we think are the missing pieces of the puzzle, which will be presented to the prime minister later.
When asked how effective the advisory board’s powers are, Dr. Surapong said that the advisors will have discussions, and the prime minister is ready to listen, but they must continue to work with the cabinet and relevant agencies. Today, the complexity of the bureaucracy makes it difficult, but the guidelines proposed to the prime minister must be implemented with relevant agencies. The advisory board can invite government agencies to meetings and request documents for review. As for the private sector, they are also ready to come and suggest problems, so they believe that from now on, Ban Phitsanulok will have many more meetings on various issues.
When asked if it was possible to invite the Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to discuss the bah
t’s value, Dr. Surapong said that the BOT is part of the government sector in solving economic problems, so there might be discussions, but it would not be formally invited.
When asked whether the solutions to political problems, legal processes, and conflicts would be presented, Dr. Surapong said that initially, Mr. Phongthep had legal expertise and was a former member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA). Therefore, he was interested in the vision of the rule of law and the rule of law.
When asked if the advisory board is all seniors, how can the new generation trust them in a changing world? Dr. Surapong said that Mr. Pansak is 80 years old, followed by Mr. Thongthong, 70, and the rest are over 60 years old. However, from what he has talked to, everyone is very experienced and still learning in every aspect. He believes that all 5 people are not out of date. However, we do not work as 5 people. There will be a subcommittee to look at the details of each matter. We are the starting point to propose
policies to solve the country’s major problems.
When asked how the performance of this advisory team will be measured, Dr. Surapong said that there is no KPI set, but all advisors are very enthusiastic and ready to start working at full capacity. Mr. Thongthong is preparing to ask for some civil servants to help with the work. He already has some in mind. The performance will be measured by the big picture of the country. If compared to the time of General Chatichai Choonhavan, the former prime minister, the big picture is to change the battlefield into a trading field, which is a very big issue. Therefore, the prime minister said that in the remaining 2 years, what he wants to see is the Thai people being free from poverty, the country being able to escape economic problems, leading to a clear direction in creating a prosperous economy again.
Source: Thai News Agency