NCPO to kick off Thailand's 2nd-phase roadmap in Sept 2014

BANGKOK, July 5 (TNA) - The Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) plans to start driving ahead the country's second-phase roadmap for national reform, reconciliation and democratic development in September 2014. Speaking during his weekly address on Friday (Jul 4) night, Thai Army and NCPO Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha told the public that the second-phase roadmap will be launched after the National Legislative Assembly is established, based on a temporary Thai Charter which has already been worked out and being scrutinised by the NCPO, to enable the selection of an interim prime minister who will then form an interim government, while a national reform council will also be set up. General Prayuth assessed that the needed processes should be seen by September 2014 and the second-phase roadmap will be implemented thereafter. Under the second-phase roadmap, General Prayuth acknowledged, national reform will be carried on in several sectors, including energy, education, bureaucracy and laws, along with implementing continual measures to address corruption and economic problems. For national reform in the energy sector, General Prayuth said that the NCPO is considering reviewing oil prices on the domestic market for a temporary period, before the entire system is restructured in the future. For the country's educational reform, the NCPO chief pointed out that there will be a comprehensive human resources development plan, under which Thai people will be equally taken good care by the state since they are born until they become the elderly through well-tailored plans to ensure their ethical morality and patriotism, while upholding the Thai monarchy. According to the NCPO chief, modern Internet and satellite technologies will be utilised in the national education reform to promote and support tele-learning, enabling people in rural and remote areas to access to quality educational systems, as initiated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. According to the NCPO chief, the NCPO has prioritised approving state budget disbursements to fund pending projects in the 2014 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2014, since taking control the national administrative power on May 22, 2014, along with solving problems affecting public and national interests, namely corruption, illegal weapons and environmental cases, all of which will be continued in the second-phase roadmap. (TNA)