Chuan blames House meeting collapse on absent MPs travelling to Japan

He said that several lawmakers were on a leave of absence for an overseas trip organised by their respective House committees.

“A large part of the House members is now flocking to Japan. They are on a trip with their committees. This is a period when House committees have to spend their [remaining] budget,” the speaker said.

According to him, most of the absent MPs had their departure flights on Thursday and they were scheduled to fly back to Thailand next Tuesday (December 27).

He said the House meeting on Wednesday collapsed due to a lack of quorum. It was four participants short of the quorum when the chair, Second Deputy House Speaker Supachai Phosu, adjourned the meeting.

Chuan said on Thursday he agreed with Supachai’s observation that confusion sometimes occurred during House meetings following frequent resignations of MPs in recent weeks, affecting the number of minimum lawmakers required to form the quorum.

The House speaker also said that during the remaining time of its term, the Lower House was likely to focus on deliberating draft bills that require only slight changes after being considered by the Senate following the House’s initial endorsement. He said this change was proposed by the opposition, to which he agreed.

When asked if the proposed change of focus would affect the bill on cannabis, Chuan said the matter would be discussed by the parties involved.

He said additional meeting time might be required for the bill as its deliberation was proceeding slowly. At the latest meeting on the legislation on Wednesday, the deliberation was on Articles 4 to 9 out of the 95 articles of the bill. “Everyone knows that it will take a considerable amount of time for the law to pass,” Chuan said.