BANGKOK - Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha on Thursday (July 9) confirmed talks on a Cabinet reshuffle amid the Covid-19 crisis, after three ministers announced their resignation from the ruling party earlier in the day.
"I ask you to trust in the system I created," Mr Prayut was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. "No matter who comes or goes, they'll have to follow my rules."
At mid-day, finance minister Uttama Savanayana had announced that he and three colleagues had achieved their objective of founding the Palang Pracharath Party - which helms the ruling coalition - and propelling PM Prayut to premiership.
"Now that Palang Pracharath Party has new executives, we thought we should end our role as party members so we can focus on our roles in the administration," he said. "There is a lot of work, including those related to Covid, and we think we should concentrate on them."
He was speaking alongside energy minister Sontirat Sontijirawong, higher education, science, research and innovation minister Suvit Maesincee, and the prime minister's deputy secretary-general for political affairs Kobsak Pootrakool who also resigned from the party.
All four men are technocrats-turned-politicians who were ousted from the Palang Pracharath's executive team last month (June 1).
Dr Uttama, the party leader, was replaced by deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan, while Mr Sontirat was replaced by Mr Anucha Nakasai as party secretary-general.
Dr Uttama said he would not set up another political party. Mr Sontirat told reporters: "We will continue in our roles in the administration the best we can. What happens next is for the prime minister to decide."
The four men held ministerial posts in the former military government before helping to establish Palang Pracharath to take part in last year's general election. They are seen as proteges of deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who is leading efforts to stem the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While Thailand has not recorded community transmission of the coronavirus for over a month, its tourism dependent economy is forecast by the Bank of Thailand to contract by 8.1 per cent this year.
The World Bank projects that the number of economically vulnerable people - those who are living on less than US$5.50 (S$7.70) per day - will grow from 4.7 million in the first quarter of this year (2020) to 7.8 million by the end of September.
Like many countries across the world, Thailand has rolled out massive aid and stimulus programmes, amounting to some 13 per cent of its gross domestic product. This includes cash transfers of 5,000 baht (S$223) a month for informal workers such as street vendors and 400 billion baht for projects aimed at creating jobs.
In May, the parliament passed a Bill allowing the government to borrow one trillion baht.
But the latest upheavals in Palang Pracharath have raised questions about the longevity of Thailand's Covid-19 recovery strategies.
Dr Viroj Na Ranong, a research director at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said it is important for Thailand to ready a fiscal response for a potential second wave of infections.
Should Mr Prayut decide to relieve the four men of their government positions, he would need to find other technocrats to fill their shoes, Dr Viroj told The Straits Times. The party currently has no economist up to the task, he added.
