The junta will reinstate several more local leaders on suspension pending corruption probes after four more were allowed to resume positions on Friday.
After the 2014 military coup, the junta chief issued orders suspending some 300 elected chiefs of provincial and tambon administrations on corruption suspicions, citing the need to sideline them during the investigations. It also froze all local elections.
On Friday, four more local leaders were reinstated, bringing the number of officials reinstated to dozens.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam explained on Saturday why they were allowed to resume their posts.
"One was found not guilty. Another committed a slight misdemeanour and was issued a warning. The case against another was dismissed by the court. The other faced an allegation for a crime that took place long ago," he said.
Keeping them suspended was therefore not right and they will resume full authority while their terms continue uninterrupted, he added.
The deputy prime minister said several others under investigation also fell into these categories and were likely to be reinstated.
He said the probes would give priority to the cases dismissed by the courts and those of which suspects had no prior criminal records.
"By now, all local leaders most likely have completed their four-year terms and it's possible to call local elections nationwide or we could allow the polls only at the provincial or tambon levels, or the areas unaffected by new zoning," he said.
There were 76 provincial administrations and 5,333 tambon administrations as of December.
