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Prayut Chan-o-cha Quotes

Prayut Chan-o-cha is a Thai retired politician and army officer Privy Council, the 29th Prime Minister of Thailand from 2014, when he seized power in a military coup, to 2023. He also served as the minister of defence, a position he held in his own government from 2019 to 2023. Prayut served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2010 to 2014 and led the 2014 Thai coup d'état which installed the National Council for Peace and Order , the military junta which governed Thailand between 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019.After his appointment as army chief in 2010, Prayut was characterised as a royalist and an opponent of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Considered a hardliner within the military, he was one of the leading proponents of military crackdowns on the Red Shirt demonstrations of April 2009 and April–May 2010. He later sought to moderate his profile, talking to relatives of protesters who were killed in the bloody conflict, and co-operating with the government of Yingluck Shinawatra who won parliamentary elections in July 2011.

During the political crisis that began in November 2013 and involved protests against the caretaker government of Yingluck, Prayut claimed that the army was neutral and would not launch a coup. However, in May 2014, Prayut launched a military coup against the government and assumed control of the country as dictator and leader of the National Council for Peace and Order, a military junta. He later issued an interim constitution granting himself sweeping powers and giving himself amnesty for staging the coup. In August 2014, an unelected military-dominated national legislature appointed him Prime Minister of Thailand.Prayut led an authoritarian regime in Thailand. After seizing power, Prayut's government oversaw a significant crackdown on dissent. He formulated “twelve values” based on traditional Thai values and suggested that these be included in school lessons. Measures were implemented to limit public discussions about democracy and criticism of the government, including increases in Internet and media censorship. Prayut was elected as Prime Minister following the disputed 2019 general election, after having ruled as an unelected strongman since 2014. Following the results for United Thai Nation which finished 3rd in the 2023 general election, Prayut announced his retirement from politics, serving in a caretaker position until the National Assembly voted for a new Prime Minister on 22 August. He was succeeded by Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai party after 9 years in power.

After his political retirement, Prayut was appointed a Privy Councilor on 29 November in the same year. Wikipedia  

✵ 21. March 1954
Prayut Chan-o-cha photo
Prayut Chan-o-cha: 11   quotes 1   like

Famous Prayut Chan-o-cha Quotes

“If seafood is expensive then don't eat it. Leave it to the wealthy. I cannot ensure equality in this manner. If you want to eat expensive items then you must work hard and find a lot of money....We cannot pull everyone to the same level.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

3 July 2015
Source: [National Broadcast by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister –July 3, 2015, http://www.thaigov.go.th/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=93453:93453&Itemid=399&lang=en, Royal Thai Government, 8 August 2015]

“I’ll smack you with the podium.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

23 September 2014
Source: [Thai junta leader throws banana peel at cameraman’s head, https://prachatai.com/english/node/4631, Prachatai English, 24 December 2014, en]

“I'm tired of speaking for hours, so from now on, I will reduce the duration of my 'Returning Happiness to People' speech ever [sic] Friday and will have my ministers who oversee each topic to speak in the programme.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

"Returning happiness to the people" speeches
Source: PM to shorten 'Return to happiness' speeches but in the end happiness is never come true http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PM-to-shorten-Return-to-happiness-speeches-30257143.html (31 March 2015)

“Sometimes I feel a bit slighted. I am not sure whether you have heard me or listened to the information that we have sent out”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

"Returning happiness to the people" speeches
Source: Thailand's leader will write soap operas to 'return happiness' to the people https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/29/thailands-leader-will-write-soap-operas-to-return-happiness-to-the-people (29 September 2014)

“Don't try to fool me and act like you can do or say anything 'because we are a democracy...Do you misunderstand something? Today, I am the one makes the rules. Previous governments couldn't do that. But today, I made the rules [sic], and all of you have to follow them.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Source: Anti-Junta Protest in Khon Kaen, Despite Prayuth's Warnings http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1433764390 (8 June 2015)

“We'll probably just execute them. You don't have to support the government, but you should report the truth.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Source: On how the government would deal with journalists who did not adhere to the government's laws https://web.archive.org/web/20210316002628/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-junta-media-idUSKBN0ML0RV20150325 (25 March 2015)

Prayut Chan-o-cha Quotes

“Politics should not be used to create hatred because the country is in trouble now. Don't take this opportunity to cause any further trouble.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Source: "Prayut vows not to resign" in Bangkok Post https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2157447/prayut-vows-not-to-resign (31 July 2021)

Country

“Tourists think that Thailand is beautiful, safe and that they can do anything they want here. That they can put on their bikinis and go anywhere they want. I ask, can you get away with wearing bikinis in Thailand? Unless you are not beautiful.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Source: "Thai PM apologises for bikini warning after Britons' murder" in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/thai-prime-minister-apologises-bikini-comments-murder (18 September 2014)

Beauty , Thinking

“If this person says, this side good, that side not good, if media keeps presenting news like that, when will our country have peace?”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Source: Media Must Do More Than Report Facts, Says Prayuth http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1425556914&section=11 (5 March 2015)

Peace , Country , Personality

“If they want to engage in activism or whatever, it’s up to them. If they aren’t afraid of the laws, it’s up to them, and if someone finds a gun and shoot them, or throws grenades at them, well, they have to live with that. If they aren’t afraid, it’s up to them.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Prayuth Can't Guarantee Safety of Academics Who Criticize Him (25 November 2015)
Source: [Prayuth Can't Guarantee Safety of Academics Who Criticize Him, http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1448441773, 1 December 2015, Khaosod English, 25 November 2015]

Law

“This law will be strictly enforced to prevent the type of nuisance and violence that happened in the past...It's not possible to have it all—happiness, equality, democracy—without giving us the tools.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha

Law curbing public assembly takes effect in Thailand (13 August 2015)
Source: [Law curbing public assembly takes effect in Thailand, https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/law-curbing-public-assembly-takes-effect-in-thailand/, 14 August 2015, The Seattle Times, Associated Press, 13 August 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20201128115005/https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/law-curbing-public-assembly-takes-effect-in-thailand/, 28 November 2020, live]

Democracy , Happiness , Law , Past

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