Prayut Chan o cha

Military education

Prayut studied at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS) Class 12, Command and General Staff College (CGSC) Class 63, the National Defence College of Thailand (NDC) 5020, and attended Infantry Officer Basic Course Class 51 and Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Class 38. He was graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.

Like his direct predecessor, Anupong Paochinda, and former defence minister Prawit Wongsuwan, Prayut is a member of the army's "eastern tigers" clique. Most of them, like Prayut, began their military careers in the 2nd Infantry Division, headquartered in eastern Thailand, particularly in the 21st Infantry Regiment (Queen's Guards).

Military career

After graduating from the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Prayut served in the 21st Infantry Regiment, which is granted Royal Guards status as the Queen's Guards (Thai: ทหารเสือราชินี lit. Queen's Musketeer). In 2002, he served as a deputy commanding general in the 2nd Infantry Division, becoming its commanding general one year later. In 2005, he became a deputy commanding general of the 1st Army, which includes the 2nd Infantry Division, and again became its commanding general within a year.

Prayut was the chief of staff of the Royal Thai Army from 2008 to 2009, and in 2009 he was appointed honorary adjutant to the king. In 2010, he succeeded Anupong Paochinda as commander in chief.

Non-military activities

After the 2006 Thai coup d'état, Prayut was appointed to the National Legislative Assembly. In this capacity, he joined the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Prayut sits on the executive boards of a number of companies including a state electricity utility company, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA). From 2007 to 2010 he was independent director at Thai Oil Public Co, Ltd. Since 7 October 2010 he has been a director of Thai Military Bank and chairman of the Army United Football Club.

In May 2013, Prayut sold nine plots of land in a Bangkok suburb to a company called 69 Property for 600 million baht. Reporters subsequently asked him about the land sale, and the prime minister's position was that the media had no business questioning him on the matter. "The land has belonged to me since I was a kid, it belonged to my father. So what's the problem?" Gen Prayut said. "Please stop criticising me already."

In his mandatory 2014 asset disclosure to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the prime minister listed 128.6 million baht (US$3.9 million) in assets and 654,745 baht (US$20,000) in liabilities. His assets included a Mercedes Benz S600L, a BMW 740Li series sedan, three additional vehicles, two Philipe Patek watches, three Rolex watches, US$200,000 in jewellery, and several pistols. He also reported the transfer of 466.5 million baht (US$14.3 million) to other family members. As army chief, prior to his retirement at the end of September, the general received a 1.4 million baht (US$43,000) annual salary.

Since taking power in 2014, Prayut has appeared on a weekly television program called "Sustainable Development from a Royal Philosophy".

2014 coup d'état and premiership

Following the 2013–14 Thai political crisis, Prayut attempted to bring the rival parties to an agreement. When that failed, he staged a coup against the caretaker government of Yingluck Shinawatra on 22 May 2014. Yingluck herself had been removed from office earlier by the Constitutional Court, and Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan was acting in her place. After the coup, Prayut repealed the 2007 constitution and established the NCPO to govern the nation, with himself as its head. Prayut quickly cracked down on dissent. He took control of the media, imposed Internet censorship, declared a curfew nationwide, banned gatherings of five or more persons, and arrested both politicians and anti-coup activists for exercising their right of free speech. Some of them were charged with sedition and tried in military courts.

On 22 July 2014, Prayut issued an interim constitution granting himself amnesty for leading the coup and investing himself with complete control. On 31 July 2014, a national legislature was established according to the constitution. However, the legislators, mostly senior military and police officers, were handpicked by Prayut and included Prayut's younger brother. The legislature, which mostly consisted of Prayut's close associates, later unanimously voted Prayut the new prime minister. The formal appointment was made on 24 August 2014. As a result, Prayut held three positions at the same time: army chief, NCPO leader, and prime minister, before retiring from the army chief post in October 2014.

Although Prayut claimed the coup was needed to combat corruption, some members of his own cabinet and members of the appointed national legislature, including his brother Preecha Chan-o-cha and Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister M.L. Panadda Diskul, have themselves been beset by various corruption scandals. Prayut then prohibited any criticism of his government. In February 2015 he explained, "If people want to do opinion polls, they are free to do so. But if the polls oppose the NCPO, that is not allowed."

In his role as head of the NCPO and the government, General Prayut was granted a salary of 125,590 baht (US$3,520) per month. Each of the other NCPO members was granted salaries of 119,920 baht (US$3,362) per month. These salaries are in addition to the benefits they are already entitled to receive by virtue of their posts in the armed forces.

His appearance in Milan at the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on 16 October 2014 drew protests.

"Returning happiness to the people" speeches

On 30 May 2014, Prayut gave his first of a series of Friday night speeches on national television. Preempting normal broadcasting, including Thai soap operas, Prayut sometimes spoke for more than an hour, explaining governmental policies, warning the media to cease spreading dissenting views, and complaining that people weren't minding him. "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", he once said. In March 2015, Prayut announced that his Friday night addresses would be shortened to 20 or 30 minutes and would include his ministers speaking for themselves. "I'm tired of speaking for hours," he said. "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."

Article 44

On 31 March 2015, Prayut announced that he had taken the required step of asking the king's permission to revoke martial law, which had been in place since the coup of May 2014, to be replaced with Article 44 of the interim constitution. Article 44 authorises the junta chairman to issue "any order to suppress" any act that "undermines public peace and order or national security, the monarchy, national economics, or the administration of state affairs, whether that act emerges inside or outside the Kingdom." The Bangkok Post commented, "The section has no constraint, no oversight, no checks or balances, and no retribution. It says forthrightly that anything done by the NCPO chief is 'legal, constitutional and conclusive'". "Article 44 essentially means Prayut is the law...It needs to be added that the junta leader can also insist on staying on in absolute power indefinitely". Prayut told reporters that he would not use Article 44 to violate the civil rights of anyone who is innocent. "If you didn't do anything wrong, why are [you] worried?" he snapped in response to a question. According to Article 44, the prime minister is not required to inform the government before issuing an order, but must notify the interim parliament "without delay". In August 2016, Article 44 was used to suspend Sukhambhand Paribatra, the governor of Bangkok, after irregularities made by the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG).

Civil liberties

In February 2015, Prayut declared he had the power to forcefully close media outlets. In March, when asked how the government would deal with journalists who did not adhere to the government's laws, he took an even harsher position, "'We'll probably just execute them', said Prayut, without a trace of a smile...'You don't have to support the government, but you should report the truth' the former army chief said, telling reporters to write in a way that bolsters national reconciliation in the kingdom". His remarks were promptly condemned by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Economic policies

The prime minister has claimed that Thailand's economic slowdown is not attributable to his government, but is due to the world economic situation. He stated his goal of moving Thailand from a middle income economy to a high income economy by aiding farmers and by encouraging Thai industry to produce quality products at low prices. In a speech before the Federation of Thai Industries, Prayut declared that providing more aid to farmers, increasing the sale of Thai rubber to China, and completing a potash mining project to cut farmers' cost of fertiliser would help achieve this goal. As would encouraging manufacturers to cut packaging costs, particularly "beautiful packaging".

Human trafficking

In his nationwide address of 27 March 2015, the prime minister focused on the Thai fishing industry and its reliance on forced labour. Gen Prayut said that his government had elevated the fight against human trafficking to the top of the national agenda, the same as drug suppression, saying it has long tarnished the country's image. He blamed worsening human trafficking, particularly in the fishing industry, on inaction or ignorance by the previous government, toppled in his 22 May coup. Prayut vowed to put fishing operators out of business if they are found to violate laws and abuse workers in ways that jeopardise Thai exports worth hundreds of billions of baht a year. Thailand is facing international bans of its fisheries products. These bans could be extended to other Thai exports like rice or rubber. "The people who do wrong in this area must repent. They have done this for a long time, for many years, and past administrations were never able to cope", he said.

State Influence of Buddhism

Buddhism in Thailand came under significantly higher state control during Prayut's premiership. Following the coup, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), set up a National Reform Council with a religious committee led by former Thai senator Paiboon Nititawan and former monk Mano Laohavanich. The calls for reform were led by one of Prayut's close allies, activist monk Phra Buddha Issara, known for leading the violent protests in Bangkok that led to the coup.

State influence over several aspects of Thai Buddhism increased under Prayut's government. During this time, the ruling junta proposed requiring temples to open their finances to the public and requiring monks to carry smart cards to identify their legal and religious backgrounds. The junta's new constitution also states that the Thai government is to directly support Theravada Buddhism specifically.

In 2016, Prayut stalled a decision by the Sangha Supreme Council by refusing to submit the nomination for Supreme Patriarch of Somdet Chuang, a Maha Nikaya monk who was next in line for the position. The appointment was stalled until a law passed that allowed the Thai government to bypass the Sangha Supreme Council and appoint the Supreme Patriarch directly. This led to the appointment of a monk from the Dhammayuttika Nikaya instead by King Rama X, who chose the name out of one of five given to him by Prayut.

In 2017, Prayut used article 44 to replace the head of the National Office of Buddhism with a Department of Special Investigation (DSI) official. The DSI official, Pongporn Pramsaneh, vowed to reform Thailand's more than 40,000 temples by forcing them to open their finances to the public. However, in August 2017, Prayut removed him from the post after religious groups called on the government to fire him because of his reform plans, which were viewed as damaging the image of monks. Phra Buddha Issara said the junta gave in to pressure too easily given government promises to fight corruption.

Prime ministerial viewpoints

Songwriting

As a New Year 2016 gift to the Thai people, General Prayut announced that he had written a new song to boost the country's morale. "I wrote it as a personal New Year present for the people," Gen. Prayuth said. "In the lyrics, it doesn't only mean me, but it means the media, too, because everyone is united and I have to please them. I use my every breath to help this country move forward." The song, Because You Are Thailand, sung by Sergeant-Major Pongsathorn Porjit, includes the lyrics, "The day we hope for is not far away" and "Because you are Thailand, you will not let anyone destroy you."

In the aftermath of the 2014 coup, Prayut wrote a song called Return Happiness to Thailand, which is widely played on state radio and television stations.

Criticism

Prayut has been described as paranoid and volatile. The Guardian has said that, "He has presided over a repressive political and media climate, an under-performing economy, a gerrymandered constitution entrenching military control, and an upsurge in violence among the disadvantaged Muslim minority in the impoverished south."

Personal life

Prayut's nickname is "Tuu" (Thai: ตู่; rtgs: Tu). Prayut is married to Naraporn Chan-o-cha, a former associate professor at Chulalongkorn University's Language Institute. She has served as president of the Army Wives' Association since Prayut's selection as army chief in 2010, and is involved with distance learning organisations, for whom she teaches English on a long-distance learning television channel. She claimed to have told her husband to cool down when speaking to the media. Moreover she told reporters that she was "looking after" her husband, taking responsibility for his clothes, makeup and haircut. According to her, Prayut was dressed "in the English style", wore shoes by Church's and suits tailored at "Broadway".

They have twin daughters, Thanya (Thai: ธัญญา) and Nittha (Thai: นิฏฐา), twenty-somethings who enjoyed success as a "punk-lite rock duo" several years ago. His family has generally kept a low profile, particularly after a leader of a citizen group supporting the previous government called for his daughters' kidnapping if Prayut were to stage a coup.

In September 2014, Time magazine reported that he had become "increasingly eccentric" and "highly superstitious" since taking power. Prayut has stated publicly that he consults a fortune teller, Warin Buawiratlert, regularly. He said there was no harm in seeking advice. When suffering from fever and aches early in his premiership, he blamed his ills on spells cast by his political enemies and combated the malady with holy water.

According to the Bangkok Post, Prayut has a collection of lucky rings which he varies daily in accordance with that day's activities. He also wears an elephant hair bracelet to ward off bad luck. He has revived the wearing of the traditionally inspired phraratchathan, first popularised by Prem Tinsulanond in the 1980s, and has instructed cabinet members to dress in the phraratchathan at meetings, rather than in Western suits.