Thailand's national reconciliation under way

BANGKOK, June 4 (TNA) - All sectors in Thailand are expediting their attempts to help materialize national reconciliation. Deputy Permanent Secretary for Defence General Surasak Kanchanarak, in his capacity as the acting permanent secretary for defence, on Wednesday convened a working group tasked with returning happiness to the Thai people, during which he presented a four-stage process for the restoration of public happiness and national reconciliation, based on the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s national reform roadmap. The four-stage process consists of public hearings, reports of findings from such public forums to the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which handles reconciliation for national reform, the analysis of public opinions from such forums and proposals to the NCPO. National reconciliation attempts are also going on in provincial areas. In Chiang Rai Province in the Thai North, provincial army chief Major General Patana Matmongkol, Chiang Rai Governor Pongsak Wangsamer and Chiang Rai's provincial police chief Police Major General Wanchai Suwansirikhet met heads of local communities to convince them to help promote reconciliation. In Lamphun Province, also in the Thai North, Major General Suthas Jarumanee, Commander of the 7th Infantry Division, and Colonel Boonyuen Inkwang, Chief-of-Staff of the same division, met heads of local government offices and communities for the same purpose. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the 2nd Cavalry Division and the Metropolitan Police Division 1 are scheduled, in the meantime, to organize many activities at the Victory Monument in Bangkok on Wednesday evening, aimed at returning happiness to the Thai people. The activities include a concert, a trade fair, medical checkup services and a show of cavalrymen. Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva asked the NCPO to reveal details of its national reconciliation plan, saying that he supports the coup council's intention to promote national reconciliation from the local to the national levels.(TNA)