AFTER the House of Representatives meeting yesterday (Aug. 31) was adjourned through a lack of quorum, a Move Forward MP calculated that each time this occurs over 8.2 million baht is wasted, Sanook.com said today (Sept. 1).
At yesterday’s meeting Palang Prachrath MP for Chachoensao Mr. Atthakorn Sirilatthayakon had tabled a motion on solving low shrimp prices. However Move Forward MP for Bangkok Mr. Piyarat Jongthep asked for counting of House quorum after noticing that very few MPs from parties in the coalition government were present.
A check by pressing a button to certify presence at the meeting showed less than half of the 498 performing MPs were present, leading to House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha to adjourning it until next Thursday.
While 150 Move Forward MPs were present, they did not press the button to certify their presence.
The collapse of House meeting through lack of quorum sparked heavy criticism on X, formerly Twitter, under the hashtag #HouseCollapses which became the top trending topic for Thailand yesterday.
Some netizens asked why these MPs had not attended the meeting despite being paid a monthly salary of 71,230 baht plus an additional 42,330 baht totalling 113,560 baht.
Later Move Forward MP for Bangkok Sasinan Thammanitinan shared a post titled “Each time the House meeting collapses what are the costs?”
A brief summary of his calculation follows below:
– Salaries of the House Speaker, Deputy House Speakers divided by 31 days, averages 10,968 baht a day;
– Salaries of MPs, senators and their teams divided by 31 days totals 5,921,129 baht a day;
– Travel expense (real cost refundable);
– Electricity and water expense based on data from 2020 totals 1,609,848 baht;
– Location expenses calculated on the cost of running a large dining hall for 500 people, parking for 900 vehicles, 12 other rooms, Internet fees and salaries of cleaning staff, car park attendants and security guards.
All this adds up to a loss of 8,291,945 baht each time the House meeting collapses, Sasinan wrote but signed as “The People”,
CAPTION:
The House of Representatives meeting chamber. Top photo: NNT, Front Page photo: INN News
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