Forum: National reform should be complete within 18 months

BANGKOK, February 8 (TNA) - Parties attending a public forum, aimed at brainstorming ideas on national reform, have agreed that a national reform should be complete within 18 months. The anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), led by PDRC secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, organized the public forum, the first of its kind, at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) in central Bangkok, where a major PDRC rally site is held. Doctors from three government-run hospitals attended the seminar. Suthep, a former deputy prime minister of Thailand's Democrat Party, said Saturday's (Feb 8) seminar was meaningful for the national reform, aimed and announced earlier by his group. According to the PDRC core leader, Thailand's national reform demanded by people should be divided into five major categories, including politics, ridding corruption, especially by the government, decentralization in which provincial governors are elected instead of appointed by the government. The two others including reducing social disparity in which low income earners should enjoy a better quality of life and, finally, Thailand's judicial process must be reformed. Suthep insisted that PDRC protesters will disperse after the reform is complete, and that he will not run in any election in the future. Suthep said further that the current caretaker government is about to “meet the dead end” and a blueprint must be prepared to enable the national reform process to move forward. The PDRC core leader announced that his group plans to organise similar public forums for other professions, with opinions gathered to be later printed in the blueprint. (TNA)