Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has admitted that not all the problems he aimed to tackle when first taking office eight years ago have been addressed so far.
He said a key challenge in working as a democratic ruler is that opinions of all sides matter and they must be heard and taken into consideration when making any major decisions.
"Nothing changes completely in one day or one year. I've been in office for eight years now and still couldn't change all of what I wanted to," Gen Prayut said in a speech delivered during his visit to Sing Buri for a function on Friday.
"There were a hundred issues I aimed to improve but still couldn't do them all," he told people who waited to greet him.
That wasn't because he no longer wants to resolve them or dares not to, but because these radical changes couldn't simply be implemented by force as they all require sufficient approval by the public, the prime minister said. He was apparently referring to development projects he, as the government's leader, has been determined to implement since the first day of his premiership.
Many people might not have noticed improvements happening around them, even though a lot of work has been done, he said.
As the prime minister, he said, he works on budgetary management every single day and has a clear picture of how much money has been spent on funding development projects in whatever part of the country.
Sing Buri has received tens of billions of baht during his administration, and that was the highest-ever budget amounts this province has received, he said.
The province has received a larger sum of development budget because it deserves this funding, considering its development needs are seen as a priority, not because it is a political stronghold of any particular political party in the coalition government, he said.
Unlike other prime ministers, Gen Prayut said, he had never treated people's political preferences as a factor in the government's allocating of budget to the provinces.
Gen Prayut's critics, meanwhile, have begun cautioning him against exploiting state resources or abusing his position to obtain personal political gain from the first day he formally becomes a political party member.
In response to media reports that Gen Prayut is expected to formally apply for membership of the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party on Monday, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, policy steering chairman of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, has urged the Election Commission (EC) to closely monitor the expected political activities of Gen Prayut on that day.
First, if Gen Prayut on Monday leaves Government House for a UTN event, expected to be held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), before 4.30pm, the question would be whether Gen Prayut is abusing his working hours for electioneering, said Mr Somchai, a former election commissioner.
Second, if Gen Prayut travels to the UTN's political event in a government car and in a procession led by police vehicles clearing traffic for it, Mr Somchai said he wondered if that could be deemed as an act of abusing state resources for electioneering.
And last, if thousands of people who might possibly show up at the UTN event to listen to Gen Prayut's speech are paid for their travel and provided with free food and drink, should that be seen by the EC as a violation of election laws?, asked Mr Somchai.
Hence, if Gen Prayut does not want to risk getting in trouble as a result of violating election laws, he had better leave Government House after 4.30pm, travel in a personal car and not give his supporters at the UTN event anything, even a bottle of drinking water, for free, according to Mr Somchai.
Senator Wanchai Sornsiri said Monday's event organised by the UTN, intended for announcing Gen Prayut's party membership and possibly as the party's prime ministerial candidate, may draw public attention, but that won't guarantee the new party an election victory.
