Representatives from the network of students for social development hand a letter to CDC chairman Prasong Soonsiri yesterday calling for no legal immunity for those who staged the September 19 coup.

Many have concluded that the two words will do little to improve their lives, so the charter might as well, as one fisherman put it, "come from Mars".

"Constitution? What constitution?" asked a grandmother from Khon Kaen, who answered a random phone call from a Nation reporter.

"I don't watch the news. The only news I'm waiting to hear is from my daughter. She's gone to Bangkok to work and left her two sons with me. I haven't heard from her for several months now. She was supposed to send us some money. You know, her sons will have to go back to school in the next few weeks. I still don't know how to pay for their expenses if my daughter doesn't send us the money."

When asked to comment on some issues of the new charter, Bangkok taxi driver Prasong Poonsapsuk said he was only interested in making ends meet.

Prasong is in a bind: the number of daily passengers is plummeting as the cost of living and fuel soars.

However, as someone who reads newspapers everyday, he had an opinion on some of the most contentious issues, such as: "Do you think the prime minister should be an MP?"

Prasong was quick to respond: "Of course, isn't that the whole point of the election? That we mark our ballot card for the party of the man we want to be the next leader?"

Prasong took the same line regarding senators, saying they should come from elections otherwise the Senate would be full of cronies.

"Senators coming from appointment is as out of date a system as military coups," Prasong said. "Thai politics cannot progress because somebody with tanks is ready to topple a government they don't like."

But Nakhon Ratchasima community leader Khampong Threeraj is in favour of reverting to an appointed Senate.

Having been defeated by the wife of a former MP in his run for a Senate seat, Khampong believes that people like him, who lack political connections and deep pockets, don't have a chance to win a Senate seat in an election.

"If there is a fair selection process, every professional group can nominate their representatives to sit in the Senate," Khampong said. "I think rural people will have better representation in the Senate because we can nominate our own senators who truly care about the poor."

Fisherman Bang Mee from Phang Nga could not care less where the prime minister and senators come from. To him, Bangkok is like Mars. Anything that happens in the capital has little to do with the daily life in the village. "But it doesn't mean I'm not interested in politics," he said. "I only want the kind of politics that is meaningful to the wellbeing of the majority of people, who are in rural areas. I want the new constitution to pay attention to strengthening local organisations such as the co-operatives, community saving groups, women groups, for example.

"If those constitution drafters are sincere about making their charter live up to the name 'People's Constitution', they should have come and talked to us, instead of hanging out among themselves in Bang Saen."

Nantiya Tangwisutjit

The Nation