1. Policies on political and administrative reform

1.1 Support the drafting of a new Constitution for a political reform, stressing participation of people at all levels.

1.2 Introducing new measures and strengthening current means to combat graft and corruption. New laws preventing conflict of interest by politicians and government officials will be enacted.

1.3 Establishing a council of political development to write a blueprint for political reform according to the will of the new Constitution.

1.4 Writing a blueprint for the utilisation of national communication resources for the benefit of the public and people's political education so that they understand democracy under constitutional monarchy and the political reform.

1.5 Promoting press freedom as well as responsibility while pushing for laws on broadcast media so that the state media, private media and community media truly serve the public.

1.6 Promoting the roles of the private and civic sectors in parallel with the government in developing the potential of civic groups and communities to strengthen and protect their interests.

1.7 Administrating personnel and managing government agencies in accordance with the goal of sustainable

development, a strong society and happy people on the sufficiency economy principle. Meanwhile, develop government officials to be professional in serving the public and stick to morality.

1.8     Continually supporting power decentralisation so that locals can be self dependent and self governing according to local people's will.

2. Social Policies

The interim government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has launched the following policy guidelines to help create "a strong society where people live together pleasantly and harmoniously on a moral basis":

2.1 Promoting love, unity and harmony among the people to make them work together to retrieve and rehabilitate the country. Summarising the lessons from previous disharmony and creating a process to solve problems.

2.2 To enable people to live happily and harmoniously, the government will draw up a social reformation plan with the participation of all social sectors, including the general public, business, academia, the media and religious bodies. The plan will aim for a strong, moral and democratic society.

2.3 Speeding up education reform under the principle "virtue before knowledge". The government will increase educational opportunity and quality. Students will be taught the importance of sufficiency economy, harmony, peaceful action and democracy. Education management will be assigned to local administrative units.

2.4 Improving people's physical, mental and intellectual wellbeing by reforms that decrease environmental and behavioural risks. The government also plans to improve the medical system and launch a National Health Promotion Act.

2.5 Promoting sports to give people from all levels of society the opportunity to play and exercise, as well as supporting local men and women athletes to reach international level.

2.6 Strengthening local communities to manage their own affairs regarding economic, social, cultural and administrative matters, environment management and community rights. The government will also work seriously and continuously to prevent social problems and drug abuse. The government will strive to protect children, youths, the disabled, the elderly the underprivileged and women.

2.7 Promoting Thai culture as the basis for enduring peace in society with the participation of all sectors. Society will preserve and treasure national art and culture, as well as the various local cultures.

2.8 Reforming the justice system with the people's participation. The processes of case investigation, trial, criminal rehabilitation and humanrights protection will be improved to provide quick and easy access to justice. Providing choices of justice systems that give people a role in resolving disputes, preventing crime and protecting their communities.

2.9 Supporting and developing the efficiency of justice agencies and personnel by using advanced technology and high standards in forensic science.

3. Economic Policies

The new government will uphold market mechanisms in its economic policies, but good governance will be instilled under the philosophy of sufficiency economy to ensure economic fairness and minimise conflicts of interest as well as personal interests.

The government is expected to clarify the sufficiency economy philosophy, which has created confusion among foreign investors who mistakenly believed that under the concept, the Thai economy would look inward. Rather, the concept highlights good governance as a means of regulating development in a market economy.

Among the policies which will be put to the National Legislative Assembly this week, the government will emphasise the importance of development in the agricultural sector, which will include the continued promotion of the One Tambon One Product scheme, initiated by the Thaksin government.

The government promises to proceed with "mega projects", with a focus on those ready to be implemented. The priority will be projects that offer more efficient logistics and energy conservation, as well as flooddamage and drought alleviation in key economic areas. The government promises to prioritise the investment plan within three months.

Meanwhile, to boost competitiveness, the government plans to map out a master plan on intellectual infrastructure within six months. Its rationale is that despite investment in economic infrastructure, Thailand remains less competitive than rival countries.

The government also plans to introduce a project to increase "economic immunity" by highlighting both efficiency and economic figures (through the gross domestic product). A national efficiency promotion plan will be drafted jointly with the private sector and is set to be complete in six months.

Last but not least, the government will draw up a master plan on telecommunications resource development to ensure greater use of telecommunications by the public, and to enhance the public's political education.

4.  Foreign policies

The government aims to enhance national interests, better understanding and confidence in the international community, implementing friendly policies to continue international cooperation on the basis of justice, transparency and democratic norms in accordance with international laws, notably the United Nations charters and human rights convention.

Therefore the government has formulated the following policies.

4.1 Pursue an active role in bilateral and multilateral frameworks to enhance national reconciliation and security, particularly in the context of the situation in the deep South.

4.2 Promote friendship and cooperation with neighbouring countries at the subregion, region and intraregion levels for stability and security and mutual prosperity.

4.3 Enhance strength of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by speeding up the formation of the Asean Community.

4.4 Pursue a constructive role in accordance with the frameworks of the United Nations and other multilateral cooperation bodies to promote peace, democracy, human rights, humanitarian issues, environment preservation, sustainable development, and tackling transnational problems and public health.

4.5 Protect interests of Thai citizens abroad and promote the role of the Thai community abroad.

5. Security policies

     The changing situation in the globalisation era has set a priority on security concerns as a security crisis could rapidly spread and affect state national security and peace.

5.1 To promote cooperation among government, private, social and academic sectors in order to provide protection for the country, and to mobilise resources to upgrade capability levels of the military.

In normal situations, the government will strengthen and use the military's potential to support the country's developments in all aspects for the sake of national security and prosperity under the Sufficiency Economic Theory. The military will help promote reconciliation, protection, alleviation, as well as solving important problems of the country including the daily violence in the southern provinces by adopting the royal guidelines of "understanding, accessing, developing; unconventional threats relating to the environment; victims of disasters and terrorism; domestic and transnational crimes, which include narcotics, illegal immigrants, illegal aliens, contraband trade, human trafficking and piracy.

5.2 To develop and strengthen the potential of the military to be in accordance with changes in the security environment so that it has the capability for preventing, warning and protecting the interests of the country, as well as being able to settle conflicts quickly. The military should be equipped with an effective intelligence system, science, technology, defence capabilities and defence industry so it can be selfreliant, have an effective backup system, suitable mobilisation and logistics.

In addition, the government will support the creation of foreign and security cooperation with neighbouring Asean and other countries, to reduce mistrust and create trust for the sake of peace. It will support missions for peace and humanity under the framework of the United Nations for the benefit of the country.