The Cabinet met on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, at the Government House. Some of the resolutions are as follows:
The Cabinet approved a draft announcement of Office of the Prime Minister on criteria for transliteration in German, Spanish, Japanese, Malay and Indonesian, as proposed by Office of the Royal Society, and ordered for it to be deliberated by Office of the Council of State and proceed accordingly. The draft Announcement is aimed to standardize transliteration of the above languages for official use.
The Cabinet acknowledged progress on the amendment of 6 bills on local government organizations as proposed by Office of the Council of State as follows:
(1) Draft Act on election of local councilor or local executive (No....) B.E....
(2) Draft Act on municipal council (No....) B.E....
(3) Draft Act on Provincial Administrative Organization (No....) B.E....
(4) Draft Act on Tambon Council and Sub-district Administration Organization (No. ...) B.E ....
(5) Draft Act on Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Regulations (No. ..) B.E ....
(6) Draft Act on Pattaya City Administrative Organization Act (No. ...) B.E ....
The amendment has been made on the investigation process of offenses committed by local councilors or local administrators, and on qualifications and disqualifications of local councilors or local administrators.
The Cabinet acknowledged anti-corruption measures in the approval process for temporary residency of foreign migrants, as proposed by Nation Anti-Corruption Commission and Ministry of Interior.
Ministry of Interior reported that all concerned agencies in the approval process for temporary residency of foreign migrants are obliged to develop database of migrants who have requested for temporary residency in Thailand. The database of each agency will be linked in a bid to ensure efficient screening and approval process, and will also be used in related policy making.
The cabinet approved proposals made by Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission as follows:
1. Approved for all government agencies to cooperate and participate in the aforementioned assessment during FY2018-2021, as proposed by Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission
2. Head of each government agency must place importance on the Integrity and Transparency Assessment, based on which improvement is to be undertaken within the agency.
The Cabinet acknowledged upgrade of Thailand’s intellectual property protection situation under USTR’s Special 301 Report from Priority Watch List (PWL) to lower Watch List (WL), as proposed by Ministry of Commerce, and enjoined intellectual property law Enforcement agencies (under the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Violation, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister General Pravit Wongsuwan), i.e., Internal Security Operations Command, Royal Thai Police, Royal Thai Army, Department of Special Investigation, Department of Customs, Ministry of Information and Communication, Office of Intellectual Property and International Trade, Anti-Money Laundering Office, Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, Food and Drug Administration and Department of Intellectual Property to continue their operations in suppressing intellectual property violations by focusing on the IP Roadmap and IP Work Plan in a concrete manner.
Ministry of Commerce reported that Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has made decision to move Thailand from its Priority Watch List (PWL) to the Watch List (WL) on December 15, 2017. The United States also commended Thailand’s improvement in intellectual property protection through the following implementations.
1. The government placed great importance on suppression of intellectual property violations in accordance with the policies set by National Intellectual Property Policy Committee (chaired by Prime Minister), and Subcommittee on Violation of Intellectual Property Rights, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister (General Pravit Wongsuwan), resulting in tangible accomplishments, especially in suppressing intellectual property violations in notorious market since July 2017. The government also established Intellectual Property Enforcement Center (IPEC) in 5 locations: MBK Center, Chatuchak Market, Rong Kluea Market (Sa Kaeo), Patong Beach, and Karon Beach (Phuket Province) to monitor intellectual property violations.
2. Thailand has improved efficiency in patent and trademark registration by increasing the number of reviewers and streamlining registration process, which minimize workloads
3. Thailand has become a party to Madrid Protocol on Registration of International Trademarks
--Cabinet Meeting (Prayut Chan-o-cha) January 23, 2018--