Thai PM insists no plan for Cabinet reshuffle

BANGKOK, October 2 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has insisted that she does not plan a new Cabinet reshuffle at the moment, but she has assigned the responsibilities of former deputy prime minister and interior minister Yongyuth Wichaidit to other Cabinet ministers. Regarding Yongyuth's resignation, effective on October 1, Yingluck told journalists today that she has assigned Deputy Interior Minister Chuchart Hansawat to act as the interior minister and Deputies Prime Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, Yuthasak Sasiprapa and Chalerm Yubamrung to take over Yongyuth's responsibilities as a deputy prime minister. In place of Yongyuth, according to the prime minister, Kittirat supervises the Transport Ministry, General Yuthasak oversees the National Office of Buddhism and Chalerm is responsible for the Interior Ministry, the government’s committee working on recommendations of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission and the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC). The Thai premier stood firm that she has not yet planned a new Cabinet change, but her government is focusing on flood prevention. Meanwhile, Government spokesperson Sansanee Nakpong said the prime minister has informed the Cabinet, as its weekly meeting earlier in the day, her attendance at the 67th United Nations General Assembly in New York last week. The prime minister was quoted as saying that the United Nations was interested in peaceful and people-centered solutions, and that the Thai government responded positively to anti-human trafficking campaigns and vowed to guarantee equality between men and women. The prime minister also told the Thai Cabinet that she also had bilateral talks with Myanmar and Thailand will host a meeting to further discuss Thai-Myanmar cooperation projects, including those concerning the development of the Dawei deep seaport, in the near future. (TNA)