The Foreign Ministry is scheduled to submit the FTA to the Cabinet based on the recommendation from the Thailand Development Research Institute, which was assigned to study the FTA.

However, the source said there may be questions about the legitimacy of the

FTA because the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has been selected and not elected.

But the source said the NLA had recently gained an image of being independent of influence of the military-installed government, citing the fierce debate on the

two- and three-digit lotteries.

The government had to withdraw the bill due to strong opposition from some NLA members.

The source said that, at this point, the government was scheduled to hold a public hearing to discuss the Thai-Japan FTA from December 20-22.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram had told his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, during their meeting in Hanoi last month that the two countries could sign their pending bilateral FTA by "early spring", after the government forwards the FTA to the NLA for approval.

Following NLA approval, the long-awaited FTA could be signed.

The FTA was supposed to have been signed in April this year but was delayed by the political turmoil that emerged in February.

Bangkok and Tokyo wrapped up the talks, and the signing of the pact was scheduled for April 13, but it was postponed due to the snap election on April 2.

Meanwhile, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged the new government to sign the FTA with Japan, saying it would boost gross domestic product growth by 0.1 percentage point to 4.1 per cent this year.