A consumer advocacy group and its 222 allies plan to gather outside parliament on Thursday and submit a petition to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to suspend its deliberation of a bill that would establish a national consumer council.
The NLA is scheduled to deliberate the bill for two days starting on Thursday, according to Suphaphon Thinwatthanakun, president of the Independent Committee for Consumer Protection (ICCP).
The bill was initially drafted with the aim of setting up the country's first proper consumer rights organisation, part of a concerted movement that began 22 years ago when the country was hit by the 1997 economic crisis, she said.
It was drawn up by groups representing all consumers and served them well until it was radically altered by a special committee of the government's legal advisory body, the Council of State, she said.
The committee, led by legal expert Meechai Ruchupan, changed the bill in what Ms Suphaphon called "a retrogressive" way.
As the council was designed to be a powerful but singular body, like the Federation of Thai Industries, the Council of State committee split it into smaller offshoots, said Suphatthra Nakhaphiew, a member of the ICCP.
As such they will lack autonomy and be susceptible to meddling by businesses and state agencies, threatening their power to protect consumers' rights, she noted.
"We would rather not have this law because it has become useless."
