Government Policy

Policy Statement of
The Council of Ministers
of Prime Minister General Prem Tinsulananda
Delivered to Parliament
on Friday, 20 March 1983

Policy Announcement*

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members,

Persuant to His Majesty the King's gracious appointment of myself as Prime Minister, per Royal Command dated 30 April 1983, and the subsequent appointment of the Council of Ministers, per Royal Command dated 7 May 1983. At this auspicious moment, the Council of Ministers would like to present the formal policies for the state administration, in accordance with the national unity, prosperity, safety, progress, security, and stability, to the Parliament, as follows:

Policy on Politics and State Administration

The government shall intend to protect the institutions of the Nation, Religion, King, and democratic administration, with King as Head of State, implement the efficient measure, as for the national prosperity, resolve the economic, political, and social problems, ingrain the good understanding of the democratic system, with the focus on the national ideal, especially in the personal devotion, as for the national benefits, revise the civil efficiency in the public service, as to raise the national satisfaction and minimize the valuable resources, which could be used in the national investment, and encourage the army participation in the national security and democratic administration.

In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, the government shall follow these steps:

1.	Maintain the national security, as for the life and property safety, reduce the crimes and delinquences, enforce the legal solemnity and justice, as well as, implement the preventive measures, in order that civil officers shall outlaw no man, and improve the efficiency of the government agencies and crews.
2.	Envisage the development of the political parties and institutions, in accordance with the democratic development, with King as Head of State, encourage the public participation in the politics, and establish the national confidence in the parliamentary system.
3.	Implement the government reform, in order to provide the better service, by means of the supervision and control of the government agencies, as to attain the government policy and national requirement, enhance the efficiency of the agencies, reduce the mission redundancy, support the efficient administrative decentralization to the provinces, enhance the personnel administration of the Central Organization, as for the social justice, revise the budget and personnel administration systems, in accordance with the National Economic and Social Development Plans, encourage the civil attitude in the democratic system, support the civil honesty, efficiency, security, and career promotion.
4.	Prevent and suppress the corruption and malfeasance in the administration, minimize the bribery and incapability in officers, and, at the same time, enhance the civil welfare and accommodation.
5.	Encourage the public awareness in the self-govern local administration, in order to enhance the efficiency of the local developments, in accordance with the local requirements and democratic foundation.
6.	Fight against the communism, by means of the pro-political measures, as to establish the national unity in the national developments.

Policy on Security

The government is aware that the national security is indispensable for the national development, and the royal army, essential, for the independence, sovereignty, and security of the Nation, Religion, King, and national benefits, hence, shall follow these steps:

1.	Maintain and strengthen the royal armed force, as to be ready for the national security.
2.	Speed the National Security Plan and recruit new concripts, in order that the national sovereignty and security shall be duly guaranteed.
3.	Integrate the royal armed force, be it military, paramilitary, and volunteer, and encourage the civil and public participation in the territorial defense, as for the suppression of the national threats.
4.	Modernize the military practice, development, warfare, and strategy, as to excel the efficiency and suppress the internal and external threats.
5.	Encourage and operate the national weapon industry, enhance the weapon standard, and conduct weapon education and research, upon self-sustenance basis.
6.	Excel the military resources, in accordance with the national economic situation, as for the calling system and national protection.
7.	Encourage the army participation in the national developments and disaster alleviation plan, including the public assistance.
8.	Collaborate the army with other government agencies, in order to provide the territorial defense education to the general public.
9.	Provide the vocational education to the army, as for the professional sake, once off-duty.
10.	Stimulate the military morale and will and enhance the military welfare.
11.	Enhance the welfare and accommodation, as seen appropriate, to the veteran soldiers and their families, with the focus on the handicapped soldiers and families of dead ones.

Foreign Policy

The government is determined to run the foreign affairs freely, as to protect the national political, economic and social benefits, conform to the current international situations, in order that the national independence, sovereignty, integrity, security, and benefits shall be strictly preserved, following these steps:

1.	Respect and follow the international treaties and obligations, based upon the equality, reciprocity, and justice basis.
2.	Respect the United Nations' Charters and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
3.	Envisage the peace and peaceful co-existence, upon the independence, sovereignty, integrity, equality, non-aggressiveness, non-interference in the internal affairs, and peaceful resolution of international conflicts.
4.	Establish the political and diplomatic relations, as to achieve the mutual benefits, regional peace, and stability.
5.	Cherish the political, economic, and social cooperations and unity of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), encourage the tight relationship between the members, and support the establishment of South East Asia as peace, liberty, and neutrality zone.
6.	Promote the good relations and understandings with the neighbor countries, upon the reciprocity, equality, and justice basis, and resolve the international conflicts, through political and diplomatic measures.
7.	Implement and improve the diplomatic relations with the superpowers, as to preserve the national security and prosperity and resolve the regional peace and stability conflicts.
8.	Establish the diplomatic, economic, and commercial relations with all countries.
9.	Operate the political and diplomatic activities, both in Thailand and Thai embassies abroad, as to improve and support the economic and commercial relations with other sovereign nations, especially in the market expansion of Thai products and labors, encourage the foreign investment, with the fair guarantee, and excel the international economic and social developments, with other developing countries.
10.	Protect the Thai people and benefits abroad, as for the international fair treatment.

Economic Policy

The government is determined to raise the standard of living of the Thai people, narrow the economic gap, increase the manufacturing network and national employment, and preserve the national economic status, as for the standard and stability.

As to achieve the aforementioned goals, the government has formulated the following steps:

1.	Implement the national economic development, by means of the distribution of the natural resources to the majority of Thai citizens, speed the agricultural manufacturing, and mining industry, as well as, increase the trade and service networks, as to generate the work positions, and distribute the economic opportunities to the provinces.
2.	Implement the rural development, via the Rural Development Plan, especially for the poor remote area, enhance the efficiency of the local administration and in this respect, support the participation of the municipal council and regional agencies.
3.	Support the free economic system, reduce the monopolistic acts, with the focus on the consumer benefits, and establish the economic justice to the manfacturers and distributers.
4.	Speed the private investment, both from internal and external sources, facilitate the investment procedures, provide the justice to the investors, collaborate and cooperate with the private sector closely, as to suppress the economic drawbacks, and strengthen the private institution, as for the national benefits.
5.	Enhance the manufacturing efficiency, especially in the agriculture, pasture, and fishery, in accordance with the internal and external markets, as to benefit the agriculturists, support the land ownership distributions, via the agricultural land reform, especially in the degraded areas, provide the irrigation system, as to profit those in the dry areas, and support the agricultural institute, especially the agricultural cooperative, in accordance with the private agricultural industry.
6.	Enhance the manufacturing efficiency of the existing industries, support the national industries, especially those involved with the national labor, resources, and exports, focusing on the industrial distribution to the provinces, implement the efficient measures, as for the developments of the natural resources, i.e., mine ore, and related industries, as for the national benefits, and implement the long-term natural resource development plan.
7.	Upgrade the mass transit system, improve the freight system, as to reduce the transportation cost, expand the water and rail networks, as for the great efficiency, implement the construction of the deep sea port, improve the maritime commerce, which is essential to the international trade expansion, revolutionize the land and air transportation, according to the National Economic and Social Development Plans and energy-saving scheme, which shall provide the corresponding links with the water and rail transportations, expand the air transportation network, in accordance with the national and international transportation requirements, as to yield the greater tourism accessability, increase the effectiveness, speed, and consistency of all-level communication and telecommunication systems.
8.	Implement the energy utilization scheme, in time to match the current economic, monetary situations and national energy resources, with the focus on the energy-saving, and research for the alternative energy and new kind of energy.
9.	Support the international market network expansion, by reducing the trade drawbacks and sanctions with the major trade partners, and the government export procedures, and implement the Tourism Promotion Plan, as to generate the employment in the service sector and home industry.
10.	Reform the monetary and fiscal administration and policy, as to provide the economic versatility and back-ups, as for the economic growths in the service and manufacturing sectors, maintain the stability of the national currency and financial status, as for the international credentials, implement the tight savings scheme, install the efficient taxation and tax collection systems, in accordance with the national developments, enhance Thailand's financial role, through the expansion of the financial services, enhance the management of the state enterprises, as the main source of the state revenue, and reduce the government subsidy.
11.	Generate the urban and rural employments and support the national labor in the international markets, as to reduce the unemployment rate and career issue in the near future. As for the rural employment, implement the continuous work generation scheme, in accordance with the Rural Development Plan, support the other professions, apart from the agriculture, e.g., local handicraft manufacturing, as for the home and small industries, and implement the attractive tax measures and infrastructures, as for the rural investment. As for the urban employment, generate the work positions, in accordance with the quality of the unemployed.

Social Policy

The government is determined to provide the public well-being, life and property safety, health care system, women development and role, basic education for Thai children and juvenile, as for the self and social improvement, with the strong belief in Buddhism, Thai traditional and cultural values, and apply the scientific and technological knowledge, as for the national prosperity, as follows:

1. Labor Development and Social Welfare

1.1	Support the skilled labor knowledge, practice, and development, as to enhance the economic status.
1.2	Protect the laboral welfare, as for the appropriate wages, working hours, holidays, benefits, and guarantees.
1.3	Revise the Remuneration Act, as to expand the viewpoint and implement the Social Security Act.
1.4	Provide the advices and assistances to Thai labor abroad.
1.5	Expand the social welfare network, with the focus on the low-income, improve the urban slums, and extend the construction plan for the low-income accommodation.
1.6	Establish the qualified nurseries, especially in the urban slums, as for the correct nurture and professional opportunity for the low-income.

2. Narcotics Suppression

The government shall absolutely wipe out the narcotic manufacturing and trading, and provide the rehabilitation treatment and narcotic education to the drug addicts.

3. Justice

3.1	Respect the legal solemnity and the freedom of the royal judges, as for the trial.
3.2	Facilitate and speed up the court procedures.
3.3	Provide the judiciary protection and facilitation to the accuser/ee.
3.4	Enhance the status of the royal judges, improve the court attitude, understanding, and viewpoint, as for the effective case consideration and morale.
3.5	Relocate the detention system to the provinces, as to protect the city from crimes, control, and supervise the conversion of low-level criminals into good citizens, with no imprisonment.
3.6	Amend the legal loopholes, orders, and rules, as to correspond better to the current situation, as for the social justice and national well-being.

4. Public Health

The government shall upgrade the health care service, urban and rural alike, for more quality, convenience, and rapidity, regardless of the income and economic status, following these steps:

4.1	Provide the basic health care network to the uncovered villages, municipalities, and urban slums, as for the disease prevention, health care, and basic aids, especially for the low-income and elders, along with the cooperation from the private sector.
4.2	Upgrade, expand, and construct the distrital hospitals and village health care centers.
4.3	Collaborate with the Ministry of University Affairs, as to recruit new doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, health officers, technicians, medical and health administrative officers, meet the expansion of the local health care projects, and enhance the staff aptitude.
4.4	Promote the family planning, as to reduce the national birth rate, and resolve the nutritional and infrastructural problems.
4.5	Provide the Mother and Child health care treatment, especially in the gynaecological process, pre-natal, and post-natal supervision, as to reduce the mother and infant mortality rate, and provide the basic health education, as to encourage the women participation in the physical and mental prevention and treatment, as for the personal, familial, and communal benefits and efficiency.
4.6	Encourage the medical research and development, state and private alike, as to manufacture the medicine, medical equipments, and materials, promote the alternative medicine, in par with the conventional medicine, as for the self-dependence, in normal and urgent situations, without any monopolistic acts incurred.
4.7	Develop and enhance the national health care system, in cooperation with the related ministries, and private sector, as to improve the public health care, in normal and urgent situations.
4.8	Develop and provide the enhanced physical education, via new technology and mass media, formal and non-formal alike, in order that the public, especially the primary and secondary students, shall be informed of the disease prevention, protection, and basic health care treatment.
4.9	Implement the consumer protection scheme, prevent, suppress and punish the food, medicine, and agricultural product malfactors, and encourage the right and appropriate technology to be used in the production, distribution, and advertisement, as for the safety, worth, and savings.
4.10	Support the sports and exercise, as for the good health and correct recreational activity.
4.11	Cure off the contagious disease, in all ages and occupations, especially the eliminable diseases, implement the accident and/or disaster alleviation projects, and rehabilitate the handicapped, as for the decent living and earning.
4.12	Recruit and support the medical and health expertises, as for the innovative research, both from domestic and foreign sources, as to resolve the public health problems.

5. Child and Youth Development

The government shall encourage the cooperation from the government agency, private sector, and local administration, in the child and youth developments, as for the physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, and social quality.

5.1	Provide the development opportunity to the underprivileged children and youths, especially in the poor remote areas and urban slums.
5.2	Promote and support the decent family nurture, which is very important to the child and youth devolopment.
5.3	Support the physical and mental health care, with the focus on the physical growth, immunization, and healthy mentality.
5.4	Institute the ethics, moral, discipline, honesty, patience, diligence, responsibility, savings, and concordance.
5.5	Enhance the intellectual development, self-learning process, imaginative and experimentative logics, as seen appropriate with the age.
5.6	Support the rehabilitation of the affected children and youths, as in the physical, cerebral, and emotional problems, promote the child and youth development, in accordance with the capacity and distintinction of each individual, and provide the righteous protection for working children and youths.
5.7	Encourage the child and youth awareness in the time-saving scheme, as for the own and social good.
5.8	Provide the vocational skill to the youths, as for the self-reliance and national prosperity.
5.9	Ingrain the child and youth awareness in the importance of the nation, role of the citizen in the national developments, and membership of the international communities.

6. Education

The government is determined to develop the education, in terms of quantity and quality, as to encourage the public awareness and responsibility towards the society, professional aptitude and capacity, ethics, morals, culture, health, discipline, Thai arts and culture preservation, nationalism, and democratic administration, with King as Head of State, following these steps:

6.1	Provide the all-level formal/non-formal education management harmony, in accordance with the National Economic and Social Plans.
6.2	Enhance the all-level academic administration and management structure, as to establish the harmony, unity, and efficiency, and support the local educational administration, in accordance with the local requirements.
6.3	Establish and support the Educational Information Centers, as in the vocation, arts, culture, sports, health, recreation, and information, as for the students and general public.
6.4	Enhance the all-level education quality, through the improvement of the planning, administration, learning, teaching, standardization, follow-up, and supervision systems, as for the uniform equality and local requirements.
6.5	Enhance the national curricula, educational equipments, new technology, as well as, mass media, as for the educational opportunity and development.
6.6	Ingrain the national discipline, virtue, and responsibility towards the society, arts and culture, Thai identity awareness, independence, sovereignty, and democratic administration, with King as Head of State, and support the religious participation in the moral education.
6.7	Support the all-level teacher status and security and enhance the quality of the teacher training.
6.8	Support the research and diffusion, encourage the opinion-sharing between the researchers, promote the research utilization in the better community welfare and academic advancement, and raise the public standard of living.
6.9	Mobilize the resources, as to enhance the compulsory education and quality, and improve the resource administration, as to provide the educational equality, especially to the rural, poor, and underprivileged students.
6.10	Promote the private participation in the academic developments, in accordance with the appropriate threshold and proportion, support the financial assistance and education quality to the private institutes, and support the religious institutes.
6.11	Support the student activities inside or outside the university, as for the national benefits.

7. Arts, Culture, Religion, and Thai Identity

7.1	Preserve, support, diffuse, and develop the Thai cultures, as to be unique, prevent the destruction of the national good manners, and suppress immoral activities.
7.2	Encourage the study, research, and preservation of the national heritage and places of worship, as for the mind center.
7.3	Support, promote, and diffuse the religious activities and freedoms, and encourage the patience and concordance between the people of different religions, as for the national moral and ethic revival.
7.4	Encourage the public awareness in ethics and morals, with the focus on the civil servants, as a respectful and trustworthy model, and promote the awareness of the children and youths in the role and responsibility of the citizens.

8. Community, City, Environment, and Infrastructure

8.1	Implement the proportionate community and city developments, in accordance with the social service and preservation of the natural resources, energy, environment, tradition, and local identity.
8.2	Furnish the provincial infrastructure and accommodation for the low-income and middle-class, both in urban and rural areas.
8.3	Install the sports facilities, recreational centers, parks, as well as, expand the forest parks, national parks, and conservation area.

Policy on Science, Technology, Energy, and Environment

1.	Support the scientific and technological research and service, especially in agriculture and industry, as for the economic and social security.
2.	Implement the eco-friendly scientific exploitation of the natural resources, as for the national development.
3.	Promote the diffusion of the scientific education and developments, on both internal and external technology, as to resolve the economic and environmental problems.
4.	Support the research and utilization of all types of national energy, as to reduce the petrol import.
5.	Harmonize the energy cooperation, as for the efficiency, and unify the energy management.
6.	Regulate the energy usage, at reasonable level, in accordance with the national economic status and income level, as to encourage the public energy-saving and balance.
7.	Control the provision, production, and utilization of energy, as for the national savings and benefits, in order to meet the normal and urgent situations.
8.	Preserve and develop the natural resources, as for the national benefits and social justice, especially in the reforestation and mineral exploitation.

Apart from the aforementioned, Thailand is now experiencing another important problem, the international refugee issue, which the government shall implement the efficient humanitarian measures, according to the national sovereignty, security, safety, and benefits. In this respect, the government shall collaborate with the United Nations, international organizations and communities, and friendly nations, in order to resolve the problem, with the focus on the refugee expatriation from the national territory.

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members,

I would like to vow that the government shall run the state administration, in accordance with the aforementioned policy, with honesty and good intention, and, in this respect, intend to preserve the national benefits. I hope the government shall be able to bring about the national security and prosperity.

Thank you.

*Parliament Assembly Report of 2/1983, 20 May 1983, Pages 25-42.

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