BURNING ISSUE
New Cabinet will have to move quickly
Supon Thanukid
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The latest reshuffle of the Yingluck Cabinet, though it involves many ministerial seats, has not created much surprise or excitement. News of possible changes in the line-up came out about two weeks before the actual shake-up on Sunday.

This fifth Yingluck Cabinet became inevitable after a barrage of problems began to undermine the government's stability. The Democrat-led opposition has threatened to file a no-confidence motion as soon as the next parliamentary session starts in August. So, the government cannot afford to waste time; it needs to act urgently in tackling the problems.

Many of the new Cabinet members are well known. Some have years of political experience behind them that could allow them to deal with opposition politicians comfortably.

However, they also have to deal with problems that have accumulated in the nearly two years in which the government has been in power.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who will serve concurrently as the new defence minister (the country's first woman to assume this post), will need to tackle the worsening problem of insurgent violence in the deep South. Although she has reappointed her first defence minister, General Yuthasak Sasiprapha, to the Cabinet as deputy defence minister, Yingluck will not be able to evade responsibility for the South again. Previously, her regular excuse was that she had assigned certain Cabinet members to deal with the matter.

As the defence minister, with direct responsibility over security matters, Yingluck will find it more difficult to hold herself above the problem. She can no longer tell the media that she is waiting for reports from the relevant Cabinet members.

Also, the defence minister must deal with the annual transfers of senior military commanders in October. Some critics say that by doubling as defence minister and appointing a deputy, the PM simply wanted to increase the government's presence on the Defence Ministry committee, which is empowered to decide the annual military transfers.

A very difficult job awaits new Commerce Minister Nivatthamrong Boonsongpaisal, who formerly served as a PM's Office minister. He is known to be good at economic matters but inherits one of the government's biggest problems from his predecessor, Boonsong Teriyapirom.

The most urgent issue that Nivatthamrong has to tackle involves the government's controversial rice-pledging scheme, which has attracted much criticism and put a lot of pressure on the government. Pressure from angry farmers has eased since the Cabinet decided to retain the pledging price of Bt15,000 per tonne of rice until the end of September. The government had earlier opted to cut the price to Bt12,000 in order to help reduce the project's losses, which have been estimated at Bt260 billion, although that figure is rejected by the government, which insists that the actual loss is half that amount.

The new commerce minister will also have to deal with several million tonnes of rice in the government's stockpiles that need to be sold. The longer the rice remains in the warehouse, the poorer its quality. This issue is expected to be among the topics raised by the opposition when it files a censure motion after the new parliamentary session begins.

Another problem is the rising cost of living due to higher prices of consumer products and food, against a backdrop of declining prices of farm produce.

The new education minister, Chaturon Chaisang, is another Cabinet member expected to be in the hot seat. This veteran politician has made a return to the Education Ministry, but he inherits some severe problems from Phongthep Thepkanjana. These include the unpopular policy of closing thousands of small primary schools with fewer than 50 students.

Other Cabinet members will also have to deal with problems at their ministries. And they cannot afford to "sit pretty" any longer, as many of the government's controversial policies are starting to backfire and its popularity and stability are at risk.


-- The Nation 2013-07-05

They did move very quickly, to Hong Kong.

They will move quickly enough to get their piece of the pie. Politicians, like police in Thailand do not serve the public.

I keeping with the headline they were all seen boarding a 509 bus under the direction of the Minister of Transport.

They will try to put a few band aids on it only making the situation worse. The more Big T tries to fiddle with everything coming home gets further away every year

They will be moving quickly to get the best place at the

trough, nothing has changed,never will.

regards Worgeordie

Of course the new cabinet lineup will have to move quickly as they know they probably won't be in the job long since Yinluck seems to be in the grove of reshuffling her cabinet (allowing new folks some time at the trough) every six months or so.

Of course the new cabinet lineup will have to move quickly as they know they probably won't be in the job long since Yinluck seems to be in the grove of reshuffling her cabinet (allowing new folks some time at the trough) every six months or so.

Chalerm thinks she should do it every 3 months.

Move where? How far?

I don't think I've ever seen a Thai move quickly.

I await the new commerce minister's fresh lies regarding the accumulated losses of the rice scam, expecting "ONLY X billion" where X is a large number.

I don't think I've ever seen a Thai move quickly.

Running to the restroom?

Hope springs eternal. Not in this heart sunshine. Same old, same old. Who needs fertiliser with so much BS available?