King’s oath a secret

PPT has three times posted on Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha being scripted to make a constitutionally-required oath that left out a sentence from the oath as set out in the constitution. The bit left out was: “I will also uphold and observe the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand in every respect.”

Clipped from the Bangkok Post

As we noted in one of our posts, no one has been prepared to say why the oath was changed. The Bangkok Post is misleading its readers when it persistently refers to a “blunder.” It is clear that the oath was not a mistake but a statement Gen Prayuth was directed to make, probably by palace officials.

The evidence for this comes from Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam wanted to avoid talking about the oath. When pressed,  Wissanu remonstrated, “One day you’ll know why we shouldn’t talk about it…”. A reporter pressed him, saying he should explain for “knowledge’s sake”, Mr Wissanu said: “This is not ‘knowledge’ but something no one should stick his nose into.”

When the issue of the incomplete oath was first raised, Gen Prayuth “insisted … the oath was in compliance with the charter and, most importantly, in line with … the King’s advice that the government stay committed to serving the country and the people.”

Confirming all of this, Wissanu now affirms that:

… parliamentary debate on cabinet’s failure to recite the complete oath during its swearing-in could be held behind closed doors if the content is considered inappropriate to be made public….

The parliament only ever goes into secret session when dealing with anything related to the monarchy. Under a constitutional monarchy, it is not clear why the public should not know about the machinations of monarchy when it involves itself in politics and constitutional issues.