National Broadcast

By

General Prayut Chan-o-cha

Head of the National Council for Peace and Order

11 July 2014

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                Good evening dear citizens. I would like to thank you for giving attention to and following the "Return Happiness to the People Programme" for the past seven weeks since the functioning of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Much progress has been made. I would like to thank the civil servants, military, police, private sector and people from all quarters for their cooperation with NCPO and for their hard work in tackling problems of national importance.

                Today, Thailand is still facing many problems. In the past week, there was a regrettable and anguishing incident involving an innocent victim of violence in society while travelling on the train. I have already pressed upon the authorities to expedite the judicial process against the offender according to evidence. Besides, the society must help to foster conscience, vigilance, and responsibility on what had happened.

          The print media should not present sexually provocative contents such as entertainers dressing provocatively which go against good Thai tradition. This has to be cut down. The authorities concerned should have a sense of responsibility even though it is difficult to fix what has already happened. Everytime it has been the case of ‘closing the stable door after the horse has bolted'. We must solve problems in a more sustainable way. Commanding officers at all levels should be responsible for what happened – all the flaws, damages and calamities within their own organization.

          Instilling responsibility among bureaucrats is highly important so that they can truly perform their duties for national interest and for the people, not for their own interest or the interest of their clique.

                As for the reshuffling of the high level officials in the past weeks, the society may have some concerns. We have to firstly admit that for the past 17 years, the political and vested groups have expanded their influences and maintain close relations with high level officials in every ministry. Therefore, the performance of government officials has not reflected due interests of the country and people. After taken control over national administration, NCPO has allowed government officials to perform their duties freely without overbearing influence. In the past two months of monitoring the performances of some agencies, we found persisting problems, particularly intra-organization conflicts, complaints,  corruption, conflict of interest and dissatisfaction among the subordinates. Due to time constraints, it is necessary for NCPO to move quickly to resolve the peoples’ problems. The newly appointed individuals have no personal relationship with NCPO. They are personnel who have risen through the ranks of their respective organizations. NCPO has considered the transparency, efficiency and acceptance within the organization as the criteria in appointing each individual in order to expedite the work.

          NCPO’s main approaches on national development include:

          - Application of His Majesty the King’s strategy guidance and philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in performance of duty, which is to “understand, reach out and develop” while being rational, moderate and resilient under the condition of knowledge and virtue.

          - National development must be carried out holistically and people-centered. There must be a balance between people, economy and environment under a well-prepared and sufficient risk management.

          - Improvement in the quality of Thai people with various security guarantees on socio-economy. Poverty will be reduced. We will focus on developing people and social quality, security of livelihood and property, transparency in governmental sector administration as well as fair and just competition, and distribution of economic gains from the development in order to reduce the gap within Thai society.

          We have formulated NCPO’s Vision in line with the 11^th National Economic and Social Development Plan. The society should live together happily, equally and fairly with immunity against changes. The main strategies are as follows:

             1. Strategy on creating fairness in society

             2. Strategy on people development for a sustainable life-long learning society

             3. Strategy on strengthening the agriculture sector, food security and energy security

             4. Strategy on economic restructuring for quality and sustainable growth

             5. Strategy on networking with countries in the region for economic and social security

             6. Strategy on sustainable natural resources and environmental management 

             7. Strategy on making structural changes in the administration of state enterprises so that the public truly benefits from the services  

             8. Strategy on improvement of telecommunication system and technology to be sustainable and on par with ASEAN and the international community

             9. Strategy on sustainable prevention and suppression of corruption.

            The persisting problems in Thailand that need to be solved urgently require inclusive cooperation from people of all levels, gender and age. I suggest that we firstly define clear core values of Thai people so that we can build a strong nation. The people must first be strong. Therefore the people should possess the following attributes:

          1. Upholding the nation, the religions and the Monarchy, which is the key institution

          2. Being honest, sacrificial and patient with positive attitude for the common good of the public

          3. Being grateful to the parents, guardians and teachers

          4. Seeking knowledge and education directly and indirectly

          5. Treasuring the precious Thai tradition

          6. Maintaining moral, integrity, well-wishes upon others as well as being generous and sharing

          7. Understanding, learning the true essence of democratic ideals with His Majesty the King as the Head of State

          8. Maintaining discipline, respectful of laws and the elderly and seniority

          9. Being conscious and  mindful of action in line with His Majesty’s the King’s statements

          10. Practicing the philosophy of Sufficiency Economy of His Majesty the King. Saving money for time of need. Being moderate with surplus used for sharing or expansion of business while having good immunity

          11. Maintaining both physical and mental health and unyielding to the dark force or desires, having sense of shame over guilt and sins in accordance with the religious principles

          12. Putting the public and national interest before personal interest.

          These are the 12 core values ​​of the Thai people that I have compiled.

Progress on the operation of the NCPO in the past week

1. On security

          - Several activities have taken place regarding the cooperation with friendly countries. On 29 May – 6 June 2014, the Royal Thai Army conducted a training session on countering the improvised explosive device network, between the Royal Thai Army and the United States Army in the Pacific region at the Army Intelligence School. Also, on 9-20 June 2014, there was a training programme on the preparation of information warfare concerning the prevention and suppression of insurgencies, conducted by the Australian Defence Force’s intelligence officers at the Army Intelligence School.

          -  The Chief of Defense Forces in his capacity as Deputy Head of NCPO and Head of the Security Cluster, welcomed several representatives of friendly countries such as Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, the Ambassador of Singapore and the Ambassador of the Lao PDR. Discussions were held on various cooperation areas and the situation in Thailand. They expressed understanding and gave support to us Thais in swiftly addressing our problems. They also reaffirmed that bilateral relations and cooperation in all areas will continue as before.

          - On foreign relations, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Acting Foreign Minister, attended a ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States, on 7-9 July 2014.

          - On 4 July 2014, Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong, the Deputy Head of the NCPO and the Head of the Economic Cluster, welcomed the Ambassador of Qatar and discussed bilateral economic cooperation between Thailand and Qatar. The Ambassador mentioned that Qatar’s Head of State would like to express his admiration to the NCPO for stepping in to maintain peace and order as well as  the good relationship existing between Thailand and Qatar.

          - On the issue of migrant labour and human trafficking, the NCPO has instructed the Policy Committee on Alien Workers to establish additional One Stop Service Centres for the Registration of Migrant Workers in a total of                      8 provinces, namely Samut Sakhon, Chachoengsao, Ayudhya, Rayong, Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Surat Thani, and Songkla. Also, the fishing boat entrepreneurs who employed migrant workers have been instructed to compile a roster listing the names, nationalities, and the total number of workers, and notify provincial labour offices in 22 provinces bordering the sea wherein their vessels are  registered. In the following week, 10 additional One Stop Service Centres for the Registration of Migrant Workers will be established in Bangkok.

          - On human trafficking, relevant agencies such as Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Department of Special Investigation and the Royal Thai Police have been instructed to amend rules and regulations regarding the suppression of human trafficking, in order to uphold principles of humanitarian and human rights, which will help tackle the issue of the Trafficking In Persons Report in the future.

2 On Economy

          In view of the global economic trend which may affect exports during the    end of the second quarter of this year, the NCPO has assigned relevant agencies to devise measures to provide relief to exporters and others within the agricultural products business cycle who may be affected. The measures, as has been considered so far, are as follows.

          - To provide relief to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in exporting their goods, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand and the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation may need to provide more soft loans or credit guarantees to SMEs exporters to maintain fiscal liquidity for this year, and to prevent any borrowing from becoming non-performance loans. Refinancing programs could also be considered for lenders who are exporters as well.

          - Promote marketing activities to stimulate exports as in the past two years the Ministry of Commerce was busy with the rice issue. We will hold activities to  open new markets and stimulate existing ones for all products. We need to seriously address this issue, especially for markets in Europe where many types of goods are going to be affected by the expiry of the Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSPs) that have been granted, which may lead to businesses becoming uncompetitive as compared to other competitors. Thus, we will need to  strengthen relations with business partners in Europe and elsewhere.

          - Promote and develop trade in border areas. The future for Thailand’s export sector remains bright for a long time to come. Neighbouring countries have high demand for Thai goods. We have advantage on distance, transport routes and price. However, bottlenecks exist at border customs checkpoints. To address this, the Customs Department, the Ministry of Transport, and other relevant agencies have been tasked with the improvement of the entry-exit channels, as well as the relevant roads and routes, by December this year. Bureaucratic steps and procedures that are unnecessary and uneconomical may have to be omitted. An example is the conducting of feasibility studies, which requires tens of millions of baht, when all parties are already aware that the project has to be done and the general public already concurred and stands to benefit from it. In this regard, the NCPO has also instructed the Royal Thai Police to have the Highway Police facilitate and speed up the entry-exit traffic flow for business operators.

          - Regarding the Board of Investment, we will accelerate the follow up on the projects that have been approved in the past two years and assess real investments from foreign investors. We need to examine issues such as; existing  obstacles and how to overcome them; and improvement in return of benefits for the state. Some current exemption measures meant that the state is not receiving benefits as it should have. However, we realize that there must be incentives for foreign companies to invest here.

          - Measures to stimulate tourism for the coming high season in the next few months will be vital as that will be the period where tourists make plans for end-of-year trips. We need to quickly do marketing activities for every market—including Japan, India, Hong Kong, ASEAN, Europe, and China. In the past, Thai Airways has been instrumental to this campaign. However, with Thai Airways currently facing numerous problems, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Tourism Council of Thailand may be tasked to make arrangements with various foreign airlines—including chartered airlines—that are friends of Thailand in devising campaigns to promote Thailand as a tourist destination during the period between October of this year and March of next year. Moreover, insurance measures for tourists that are overseen by the government may need to be devised during this situation. Meanwhile, we received welcoming news that the volume of domestic tourism has shown an increasing trend.     

          - To accelerate the process in preparing for becoming part of the ASEAN Economic Community, the Ministry of Commerce and other relevant agencies have been assigned to work on trade negotiations, both multilateral and bilateral, that have not had progress for quite some time due to legal issues and the political situation in Thailand. The aim of this is for Thailand to be able to comply with agreements made in the frameworks of ASEAN and to ensure that the country receives the relevant benefits. An example of the work to be done is the improvement of the lists specifying details on the rules of origin for imported goods to become a harmonized version (HS 2012) for use within ASEAN.

          - We will be working on the preparations for the hosting of the 14^th  ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting (TELMIN), as well as the approval of actions to implement the outcome of the 8^th Summit of Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle which aims to improve border trade checkpoints and channels, ports, motorways, and commodity distribution centres in Thailand.

          - We will proceed with consideration of the establishment of special economic zones for border and remote areas. The aim is to create employment opportunities for people living in rural and remote areas, which will lead to them having better quality of life. It will be unnecessary for these people to travel into large cities to find work, which will result in a lower density of people in those cities and will reduce potential social problems. Moreover, this will prevent illegal trades or smuggling along the borders, as well as the illegal substitution with lower quality agricultural products.

          - On 7 July 2014, the NCPO has met with SMEs operators to hear out their opinions and recommendations that could be beneficial. All parties in the meeting have agreed that SMEs are a fundamental and vital part of the domestic economic system. They also considered the restructuring of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion to raise its level and expand its scope of duties. The aim of the restructuring is to ensure the harmonization and integration of the works of every governmental agencies and the private sector—both in relation to budgets and management—to complete tasks in a speedy manner. Also, various measures are to be devised to expand access to capital sources for operators of SMEs and to raise their potential.

3. Social Psychology

          - Aside from creating reconciliation and unity for all parties, the NCPO also has other urgent strategies to implement. These include closing the economic gap by addressing livelihoods, poverty, social inequality and the spreading of just systems in all areas. The NCPO has instructed the Reconciliation Center for Reform to cooperate with the Internal Security Operations Command, local administrations, and other relevant governmental agencies in addressing issues in each area in an integrated manner in accordance with the needs of each community. The needs will of course differ—such as on increasing income, debt problems, promotion of health and sanitation, educational system development, development of water resources for agriculture and development of public utility system.

          - Issues that could be addressed in an integrated manner in the area are to be worked on without delay. As for issues without a budget or if the work to be done for an issue exceeds the capability of the people in the area, they are to be presented to the NCPO. If addressing such issues prove to be truly beneficial to the public and are in line with the 11^th National Economic and Social Development Plan, and if there is available budget, the ministries and governmental agencies responsible for the work will be instructed to proceed to address such issues without delay. If an issue is not within the scope of the work plans of ministries and departments, the NCPO will assign the National Economic and Social Development Board to include the issue as inputs for the consideration of the Annual Budget for the 2015 fiscal year in cooperation with other relevant governmental agencies.

          - The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy in his capacity as Deputy Head of NCPO and Head of the Social Psychology Cluster had a meeting with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the issue of garbage landfill, illegal logging, encroachment of forests and national parks. On 13 - 14 July 2557 he will travel with ministry officials to visit Srinath National Park in Phuket to get first hand information on the problem of forest trespassing. He will also visit a waste disposal facility which is collaboration between Phuket local administration organizations and the private sector. In Phuket, we have cleaned up Patong beach area so that it is more orderly. I ask for cooperation from other major beach attractions in keeping order. If we build shops and restaurants onto the beaches it would be unsightly and disorderly. We need your cooperation. If we do not do it today the problem will be chronic as in the past.

          - The Ministry of Transport and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) have been instructed to review the project for the purchase of BMTA buses to see if it is worth the budget, transparent, efficient, truly beneficial to the general public, and does not create fiscal or financial burden. They have been instructed to study and make comparisons whether it will be better to lease, to allow the private sector to jointly operate, or even to make joint purchases. The criteria for assessment are the convenience and safety of the passengers, cost-effectiveness, and maintenance and repair costs. The BMTA has been tasked to  urgently provide new buses for public use.

          - About the welfare pension for the elderly I understand your plight. To lessen the burden of the elderly in view of the current economic and social condition, the NCPO has approved to raise the minimum pension to 9,000 baht per month.

3 Other important issues

          - In the past week, there was a meeting between Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and the NCPO. The gist of the meeting is that Thailand and Myanmar will cooperate in helping displaced persons from fighting in Myanmar. These people have been staying in temporary shelters with certain restrictions for a long time already. This has been a protracted problem. There are up to a hundred and thirty thousand displaced persons in nine temporary  shelters in our country. Thailand and Myanmar will facilitate the safe return to their homeland in accordance with human rights principles. Additionally, other areas of cooperation includes the nationality verification of the Rohingyas, demarcation of borders in undisputed  areas, not supporting resistance groups in their respective territories, as well as cooperation in energy development. Myanmar’s officials have expressed their gratitude to the NCPO for the measures to ensure the safety and a better work environment for Myanmar workers in fishing vessels.

          - On the preparation for becoming part of the ASEAN Community, the NCPO has expedited preparations in various areas including infrastructure, transportation, road networks, immigration checkpoints, warehouses, commodity distribution centres, and rail systems, which will require negotiations with neighbouring countries to allow for ASEAN connectivity. The Ministry of Commerce and relevant governmental agencies have been instructed to expedite the negotiation process in relation to trade regulations and amend laws that are not conducive to trade and investment within the frameworks of ASEAN. In any case, Thailand’s interests must not be compromised. In addition, further cooperation will need to be promoted among us and our neighbouring countries in conducting beneficial activities along border areas—such as the ASEAN Forest Project that has been carried out by the Royal Thai Army for some time now.

          - About the issue of state enterprises, a meeting of the State Enterprise Policy Committee or the so-called Superboard on 9 July 2014 adopted the following approaches to improve the functioning of state enterprises.

                   (1) to look into the problem of transparency and management efficiency

                   (2) improve the quality of public services to meet international standards and meet the expectations of the people without aiming solely to make  profits

                   (3) strengthen financial status of state enterprises because some enterprises may be financially weak

                   (4) integrate the investments of enterprises in order to avoid redundancy and to move in the same direction thereby saving on state budget

             A subcommittee has been set up to oversee the matter and will be required to disclose information to the general public on a regular basis. An additional committee will be set up to examine those enterprises that are having problems and will determine whether the enterprise shall continue operation or require restructuring. This will be expedited within 30 days.

          - As for the examination of the rice under the rice pledging scheme, there are two approaches. One is under the purview of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). The other is undertaken by the NCPO’s Audit Committee on Rice which received the accounts from 1 June 2014 onwards in order to inspect rice in the warehouses. This checking process is to determine the quantity of available rice for sale and its quality. Rice which is stored for long periods of time may deteriorate and will hasve problems with pricing. We will release the rice in lots to allow for competitive procurements. But there remains a problem on the legal side, both civil and criminal aspects. The NACC, on its part, will continue with its examination process. NCPO’s Audit Committee will continue with our process so that as to ensure a check and balance mechanism between the two sides. In the end, comparisons of data will be made and checked to correspond with each other. 

          - The auditing of accounts prior to the first of June will be undertaken by the NACC as it is a matter of the rice pledging scheme and its storage. NCPO will only check rice stocks from the first of June onwards to determine the available quantity and how to release them. This will be undertaken by the other sub- committees.

          - Regarding the seizures of war-grade weapons, NCPO has issued several arrest warrants and have made arrests continuously. Today, many have surrendered themselves and the ensuing investigations were helpful. The higher amount of weapons seized is vital to the investigations of those involved which we have made good progress.   

          - Regarding water management and utilities that the public has called for improvements, we need careful planning. NCPO is working towards concrete achievements for the 2014 fiscal year and for the 2015 fiscal year plans. We will do what is required including seeking additional funding. A 5-year medium and a 10-year long plans for management of water and utilities will also be considered in conjunction with the 12^th and 13^th national development plans

4. Issues of public interest

          Other important issues that society may want to know include how we are moving this country forward.

          1. About the Provisional Constitution, it will have no more than 50 Articles. It will stipulate that a government to be established in September 2014 shall perform its duties expediently, without delay and effectively in order to rectify the many problems the country is facing, in order to yield results corresponding to the hopes of the Thai people. There may be some limitations in the provisional constitution. But only because if national administration is carried out in a normal framework, many problems will remain unresolved. This is not beneficial to anyone. NCPO should be given time, opportunity and tools to function.

          2. The authority of NCPO and that of the Government will have equitable check and balance mechanisms, with the Government having more prominence on national administration. The NCPO will have more say on national security affairs. Cooperation between the two branches will be based on consultations, joint meetings, exchanges of information and other forms of meetings when needed. Suggestions and proposals will be taken up by the Government for implementation measures. Other issues will come in the form of recommendations by the NCPO to the Government.

          3. On reconciliation and Reform

                     3.1  On reconciliation

- I would like the public to understand and make a distinction between the reconciliation aspect and the reform aspect. Reconciliation is about creating a conducive environment for reform in which tensions are reduced and talks between conflicting parties can take place. If we cannot reconcile then we cannot reform. Therefore we will have to firstly find a way out of conflict. In reconciliation there will be many issues that will take time to understand and every group should curtail feuding and mutual suspicion. This has to be done continuously with every group finding a way for dialogue. Today we have created an atmosphere of mutual awareness and dialogue. At the same time, there is a forum to listen to the opinions of all groups from the local level up to NCPO’s  Reconciliation Centre for Reform. All parties must find a common ground in order to find a way out of conflict in the immediate and long term. We need to determine the cause of conflict and means to resolve it. If no one agrees it is not possible to move forward even if we have music to listen to every day. But if we cannot accept each other, we cannot solve anything and how are we going to live with each other in the future. Today, we all need to help out and we can no longer continue to quarrel. One must accept differences, whether they are personal likes or different viewpoints, if we are to live together. I suggest we look at Indonesia as an example. Indonesia is having a Presidential elections and the phase one results have been announced. Indonesia had democracy around 20 years ago and is now a country with the third largest population in the world. Their people accept differences of opinions and preferences as reflected in their acceptance of the phase one election results. They have accepted the norms and rules of play. We need to take an example from them and take lessons learned from our own past that we can no longer fight each other over democracy. If we build good mechanisms for democracy as we are trying to achieve in our reform phase, if everyone cooperates, then there will be no conflicts. We have wasted much time on our democracy. This decades-long problem needs to be quickly rectified. 

   3.2  Reform

- On reform, today we have been able to gather persons and information from many different sectors and have created understanding among the various groups. We would like all sectors to arrange for representatives to apply for membership to the Reform Council selection process in Phase 2. In this process, we have classified 11 groups, totalling about 550 persons. Then 5 applicants from each of the 76 provinces will be selected. These additional 380 persons will be cut down to 76 persons (quota of 1 person per province), and then added to the 550 to make 630 persons. This amount will be pared down to 250 persons in order to be divided into 11 groups whereby they can participate in any group.

          - So at that point, eligible applicants from agencies or other sectors are already placed in the round of 550 people. Add another 76 would make a total of 630. Then it will be cut down to 250 which will be divided into 11 groups. There must be people from all sectors represented in each of the 11 groups. If the group you applied for is full, you will be allocated to join other groups first in order to give a wider contribution or gain knowledge of the process. The outcome of deliberations will be submitted to the Reform Council whose resolution will be presented to the National Legislative Assembly and to the Constitutional Drafting Committee for inputs in the draft constitution. This drafting Committee will receive inputs from the Reform Council, the National Legislative Assembly and take into consideration the problems and obstacles of other and previous constitutions so that they can be amended and improved so that the promulgation of a new constitution can then be used for the next general elections, in a just and fair manner to all the parties in a fully functioning democracy without further quarrels in the future.

          - As you can see, Phase 2 is a very important one for our nation and there is a limited timeframe according to the roadmap. The NCPO requests the cooperation of all parties to come together as one to help each other solve all types of problems in every aspect, so that the solutions that have been achieved within 1 year can be sustainable. Everyone fears about what would happen in the future if reform could not be achieved. There may be  resistance, conflict, chaos or instability. We have to prepare today so this reform process is a very vital period. Everyone must lower their ego by thinking of how we can live together in peace even though we may have different views. We need to look at how the nation could move forward in terms of politics, economy, social, energy, education and corruption, legal system. Actually a one year period is too short but the NCPO does not want to take much of your time. If you do not help me now the problems will return. Today, we are applying special laws in taking over national administration. Therefore if you were to say that the situation in Phase 2 should be more normal and more democratic, I ask you whether we will be able to fix anything. If it were that easy, it would not be necessary for me to step in to take control of national administration. Ask yourself if this can be done and if so please share with me.

          This week is a propitious one in our lives. I would like to invite you all to join in making merits on the occasion of Asalaha Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent. It is a Thai Buddhist tradition which I take this opportunity to urge buddhists to    practice the Buddha's teachings. We have long mentioned about the triple gem of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha so we should put them into practice. I believe it would be good if our society upholds religion as a pillar for one’s goodness, morals and Thai attributes of a sharing nature, warm smiles and amicability. I would like to ask us all to join in doing charitable deeds. We have a long holiday so please also make time to visit the temples to pay homage and pray for the safety of oneself, family and the nation. Please also pray for NCPO as we have pray for the people every day. NCPO would have the encouragement to continue working in the future. His Majesty the King has often mentioned that he would like for his accomplishments in his initiated projects over the past 40 odd years, in over 60 years reign, to become a valuable development approach for the Thai people. One could adapt the guidance and approaches to suit one’s life. Everyone could then be rooted in the Thai culture of the middle path while being prudent. Due consideration should be given to moderation, reason, and building immunity as well as upholding integrity and knowledge as an anchor to living life. It is important to have "mindfulness, wisdom, perseverance," which leads to "happiness" in life.

          Thank you again for listening to me over the last seven times. Have a good holiday weekend. In this week of Buddhism, I wish everyone safe travel and apply what I mentioned above as good blessing for the future. The nation, institution and the people will all be safe. Do not wait for the state to take care of accidents on the road caused by drunk driving or negligence. It is not worth it. We wasted a tremendous amount of time and energy on things which undermine ourselves and damage society such as causing grief to other families who lost their loved ones. Today, Thai society must change. We should care and be considerate to one another so that we will be a pleasant country in other people’s eyes. This will be an endearing characteristic of a sustainable Thai society. Thank you once again.  

          Good evening.

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