NLA’s 2nd Vice President expects public referendum to take place 31st Jul or 7th Aug

Kitti Cheevasittiyanon

BANGKOK, 13 March 2016 (NNT) – A vice president of the National Legislative Assembly is predicting that the public referendum on the draft charter will take place no later than early August.

The NLA’s Second Vice President Peerasak Porjit said that Thailand is now in the second phase of the national reform road map, during which a public referendum on the draft Constitution is to be conducted.

Mr. Peerasak’s comment was made during the NLA-initiated public forum to meet with residents of Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi.

He expects the process to take place on July 31 or August 7 of this year, when voters should participate for the benefit of the Constitution in order to help steer the country forward and to get out of the cycle of crises seen during the past 10 year.

? Mr. Peerasak stated that he believes the next general election will take place no sooner than the end of July 2017, which is in accordance with the reform road map and the promise which Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha has made to the public.

-- NNT 2016-03-13

Why bother? They'll just keep asking the question until they get the answer they want.

It seems premature to talk about a referendum date when the interim charter still does not allow a public referendum.

Amendment of the interim charter can only be authorized by the NCPO with Prayut as its Chief.

In fact Prayut has stated that a constitution is not a special medicine nor a formula to fix Thailand’s problems. So much for the draft constitution to get Thailand out of the cycle of crises. He has further said that elections could be held without a constitution if the draft were rejected in a referendum. So participation in the draft constitution referendum seems to have questionable benefits.