Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha plans to visit people and provinces affected by severe flooding following the Constitutional Court ruling in his favour that could see his tenure as premier last until 2025.
Gen Prayut returned to work as prime minister on Monday, with his first task being to chair a teleconference on the flood situation with provincial governors at the Interior Ministry.
He has pushed back the weekly cabinet meeting to tomorrow to allow for his trips to the northeastern provinces and told media he had been briefed on the situation by the Interior Ministry which oversees the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Centre.
He said he plans a visit to Ubon Ratchathani and Khon Kaen today to inspect flood relief efforts and to offer moral support to all involved in tackling flooding.
The prime minister added that several agencies are analysing weather conditions and forecasts for the coming days and weeks to plan in advance for potential rain.
Gen Prayut provided assurances that his visit to flood-hit provinces would not add to the burden of those involved in flood relief operations but did stress the need to ensure the structural integrity of dams and reservoirs.
There must also be enough water and food for people at evacuation centres as well as for livestock during the flooding, Gen Prayut said.
The prime minister said he has also been monitoring the flood situation in Bangkok while stressing that agencies should coordinate efforts to deal with flooding rather than get into conflict.
"Everything is already in the flood relief plan. I only emphasised it and gave moral support to governors and those in provinces hit by floods," said Gen Prayut.
However, the prime minister avoided answering questions about the recent court ruling in his favour.
"The future is the future," he told reporters as he left the Interior Ministry and headed to Government House. He also declined to answer when asked about a possible House dissolution and about his political successor.
Last Thursday, the court decided Gen Prayut's eight-year term in office started on April 6, 2017, when the current charter was promulgated, rather than when he assumed office following the 2014 coup he orchestrated.
As a result of the ruling, Gen Prayut could potentially stay in office until 2025, provided he agrees to run for re-election by parliament after the next general election which is expected to take place in the first half of next year.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Gen Prayut will seek re-election because if he is re-elected by parliament, he would only have about two years left in office.
The court on Aug 24 suspended Gen Prayut from duty while the judges were considering his case.
However, he was allowed to continue working as defence minister.
Pol Maj Gen Nithithorn Chintakanont, deputy commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), said that several groups of activists came out to protest after the court ruled in favour of Gen Prayut over the weekend.
He said the MPB is monitoring the activities of protesters and has crowd control units and traffic officers ready to deal with demonstrations and direct traffic flow.
