Pichet pushes for revival of provincial House offices nationwide

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

DEPUTY HOUSE SPEAKER Pichet Chuamuangpan is pushing for revival of provincial offices of the House of Representatives throughout the country.

Pichet, a Pheu Thai MP of Chiang Rai, confirmed today (Sep.20) he is currently putting forward the earlier-hatched scheme to revive the provincial House offices in all 77 provinces where aides to all MPs could regularly work on behalf of the elected lawmakers and local people could get their messages across without need to travel a long way to see their MPs in Bangkok.

Those provincial House offices will not only receive and relay petitions and proposals for legislations directly from local villagers but closely follow on the performance of provincial government units, especially those pertaining to the welfare of the people, Pichet said.

Though many MPs, either coalition or opposition, would disagree to the sought-after resurrection of the provincial House offices for fear that the construction of those offices would not be cost-effective or worth the taxpayer’s money, Pichet contended that the legislative branch has been practically underfunded and undermanned, compared to the executive and judicial branches.

The deputy House speaker said missions of the provincial House offices will by no means practically overlap with those of any Damrongtham Centre, a provincially-based, petition-relaying agency under care of the Ministry of Interior.

He said he will shortly consult with Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsuthin over the sought-after revival of the provincial House offices, probably beginning with those in six pilot provinces, namely Ayutthaya, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, Surat Thani, Chonburi and Chiang Rai, which were set up in 2013 and shut down the following year by the coup junta-installed National Legislative Assembly.

CAPTION:

Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangpan. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Matichon

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