The People’s Party announced the results of the third Shadow Cabinet meeting, progressing with the drafting of a new constitution. They also proposed the government take this opportunity to address the train-bus collision at the Asoke-Phetchaburi intersection. The party urged the government to stop bribery and protect whistleblowers, rather than threatening them with lawsuits.
On 18 May 2026, Mr. Natthapong Rueangpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party, led the Shadow Cabinet team to announce the results of their meeting covering three key issues: 1. The People’s Party presented the principles for proposing constitutional amendments and their approach to supporting civil society, as detailed below.
1) The People’s Party and civil society agree that if the process of drafting a new constitution is to meet the public’s needs as reflected in the referendum results and lead to a new societal consensus, the proposed amendment to Section 256 of the Constitution, adding Chapter 15/1 on mechanisms for drafting the new constitution, should adhere to the following principles.
1.1 Promote public participation: Encourage the broadest possible involvement of the people in drafting the new constitution, including participation in electing the constitutional drafters or drafting assembly, despite limitations arising from the Constitutional Court’s ruling 18/2568, which contradicts the fundamental principle that the people hold the sovereign power to establish the constitution.
1.2 Prevent monopolization: Ensure that no party or ideological group monopolizes the new constitution drafting process, which would hinder achieving a supreme national framework that is fair and accepted by all, respecting the diversity of opinions in society.
1.3 Do not grant special privileges to Senators: Ensure all members of Parliament have equal rights in approving the new constitution draft before it is presented to the public for referendum, without additional conditions granting special privileges to unelected Senators (such as requiring approval from one-third or one-fifth of Senators).
2) The People’s Party will expedite the proposal and promotion of the amendment to Section 256, adding Chapter 15/1 based on the principles in point 1, to the parliamentary process to advance the drafting of a new constitution in line with the referendum outcome.
3) The People’s Party will allocate some of its Members of Parliament to join others from different parties or Senators in signing to support the constitutional amendment proposal under Section 256, Chapter 15/1, to ensure enough parliamentary members propose the draft, provided it aligns with the principles stated in point 1.
(This part is a continuation of the previous sentence, reaffirming support for the proposal as long as it aligns with the principles in point 1.)
4) The People’s Party supports civil society in gathering 50,000 signatures from eligible voters to submit a constitutional amendment proposal under Section 256, Chapter 15/1, on condition the proposal aligns with the principles in point 1. They hope that during parliamentary consideration, civil society proposals will also be reviewed.
5) The People’s Party and civil society agree that the government, Parliament, academia, and civil society should jointly campaign and organize various activities to raise public awareness, understanding, and meaningful participation in the process of drafting the new constitution.
2. Address the root causes of the Asoke-Phetchaburi intersection accident systematically – The government should use the train-bus collision at Asoke-Phetchaburi on 16 May as an opportunity to prepare systemic prevention measures to avoid similar losses in the future. This may include appointing an “Accident and Incident Investigation Committee for Rail Transport” under the Rail Transport Act, effective since 27 December 2025, to conduct impartial, academic investigations. Also, advancing the Missing Link railway project could permanently resolve the complex physical and safety issues at the Asoke-Phetchaburi intersection.
3. Ending bribery must start with protecting whistleblowers, not retaliatory lawsuits – A recent survey by the Joint Private Sector Committee (JPSC) on bribery among SMEs has renewed Thai society’s focus on corruption issues. However, the Prime Minister and government agencies have threatened legal action against those conducting the survey, reflecting attempts to maintain the "Thai bribery culture." The People’s Party’s Shadow Cabinet proposes three effective anti-bribery measures: first, enact whistleblower protection laws meeting OECD standards, which Thailand is seeking to join; second, abolish outdated regulations and reduce unnecessary licenses to limit officials’ discretionary power, the root cause of bribery; third, reform public procurement and amend ministerial regulations that enable monopolies, especially for contracts under 500,000 baht with privileged agencies, totaling around 400 billion baht. Reforming this segment could save at least 10%, or about 40 billion baht, in public spending.