Monday, December 13, 2010

Bueng Kan interpellation

When I was looking for any mention of จังหวัดบึงกาฬ (Bueng Kan province) on the website of the Thai parliament to see if the law on the creation of the province has been already discussed there, or has been at least scheduled, I instead found a document titled กระทู้ถามที่ ๑๑๘ ส. เรื่อง การจัดตั้งจังหวัดบึงกาฬ - interpellation 118 S. about creation of Bueng Kan province.

This interpellation dates from May 6 2010 - formulated by Thewarit Nikonthet (เทวฤทธิ์ นิกรเทศ), Member of Parliament from Nong Khai representing the Social Action Party - and unlike the interpellations I find in the Royal Gazette no official answer to the request is included, so it probably has been rendered obsolete by the decision of the cabinet in August.

But the one thing I now understood - probably obvious to any Thai used to the common acronyms and abbreviations - is that why those interpellations I find the Royal Gazette all have a number with the letter Rho Ruea (ร.) behind it. The letter simply indicates which of the institutions is addressed in the interpellation.
  • ร. stands for Government (รัฐบาล, Rattaban)
  • ส. stands for the House of Representatives, the Lower House of the Thai parliament (สภาผู้แทนราษฎร, Sapha Phu Thaen Ratsadon Thai)
  • ว. stands for the Senate, the Upper House (วุฒิสภาไทย, Wutthisapha Thai)
While there are some older interpellations for the Senate or the House of Representatives found in the Royal Gazette, all of the current ones are directed to the Government.

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