Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of Thailand’s Future Forward Party (FFP), has denied the accusation that his party was trying to overthrow the Thai regime.

Speaking at a seminar on Future is Now held at Thammasat University Rangsit Campus, he emphasised that the party only wished to remedy the situation in Thailand and the ones who are trying to target them with these kinds of accusations were those who had violated the constitution.

He said the FFP will make all efforts to ensure any dissolution of the party becomes an exercise in futility by launching a new party. They have already requested around 60,000 of its members to register for the new party. Both Thanathorn and Piyabutr confirmed that they would not give up.

The Constitutional Court will deliver on Tuesday at 2pm (0700 GMT) its verdict on the “Illuminati” case seeking dissolution of the FFP. Illuminati is supposedly a secret anti-monarchy group.

At the seminar, FFP head Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit presented a new economic model under civil state policies to fight injustice and “the failure of the Thai nation to build a better society”.

Normally, the government’s projects under civil state policies have led to more monopolies as big capitalists are the ones who shape the policies of Thailand. Dependence on foreign investment in the existing economic model in projects such as the Eastern Economic Corridor, high-speed trains and Thailand Riviera is likely to make Thailand grow without technology development, Thanathorn said.

“Moreover, the power that comes from the authorities not the voice of the people will cause a gap in society. Whether it is an economic gap or a social gap, the development of manpower and technology will meet obstacles that are caused by the economic model.

“We cannot rely on foreign capital which regards Thailand only as a production base,” Thanathorn said. “And the auto electronics industry that we depend on cannot grow any bigger. We need a new supply chain. We want to supply to a new industry.”

He explained that this change needed big government spending and in an industry created by Thais to add value and generate employment, which will balance the economy and raise a sense of responsibility for the next generation.

“Compared with the 3.3 trillion baht [$109 billion] budgets, the government can manage with only 1.2 trillion baht. Therefore, we are presenting ‘zero-based budgeting’.

“The principle behind it is to reconstruct the previous budgets and focus on a certain number of budgets that will solve the country’s issues. The government should not spend only on projects in Bangkok but also distribute to other provinces,” Thanathorn said.

THE NATION (THAILAND)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK