Thai junta lays out ‘legally binding’ 20-year master plan
Thailand’s junta on Thursday said any future civilian government will be legally bound to follow a 20-year “masterplan” for the country as generals seek to entrench their political influence for decades to come.
Soldiers have run Thailand since a 2014 coup, ushering in the country’s most autocratic government in a generation.
The military said the coup was needed to end more than a decade of political instability, instigate reform and root out corruption.
The government [has] decided to have a 20-year national strategy as the master plan, as a strategy plan, for the country
But critics decry severely stifled freedoms, as promised deadlines to return to civilian rule keep slipping.
“Reforming the country needs time and a long-term strategy. So the government decided to have a 20-year national strategy as the master plan, as a strategy plan, for the country,” Major General Werachon Sukondhapatipak said at a rare briefing for foreign diplomats and media in Bangkok on Thursday.
In an announcement heavy on aims but light on concrete policies, he said the 20-year plan would help Thailand becomes a high income country by tackling, among other things, corruption, a sclerotic civil service as well as boosting the country’s flagging economy.
The masterplan would be “legally binding” within the country’s military-drafted constitution and any future administration “has to formulate its policies based on the national strategy”, Werachon said, without detailing specific sanctions for non-compliance.
