Media have been barred from the junta’s first regional session for political reconciliation in Chiang Mai. Even participants were not allowed to record the discussion.
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On 1 March 2017, Pawin Chamniprasan, the Chiang Mai Provincial Governor hosted a hearing forum as part of the junta’s political reconciliation program. The forum invited over 50 participants from various sectors including bureaucrats, provincial trade chamber, local industrial council and village headmen. The forum was the first reconciliation session hosted outside Bangkok.
Before the session began however, participants and staff were asked to turn off their cell phones. The forum organisers also prohibited media from observing the discussion.
Pawin said that six sessions will be hosted in Chiang Mai to hear local opinions about the junta’s reconciliation program. The feedback will help the junta design its 20-Year National Strategic Plan. Pawain speculates that some 200 people will participate in the six sessions.
Kittisak Mekkhachon, president of the Village Headmen Association of Mae Tang District who participated in the session, told media that the forum was a good effort, but not without problems. He believes political elites are fighting for their own interests and never hear the voice of people on the ground.
The National Reconciliation Committee (NRC) is responsible for leading the junta’s reconciliation program. The committee is dominated by junta-appointed military officers including the military’s Supreme Commander, the Royal Army Commander, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and the Police Commissioner-General.
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