As the world watches, PM Prayuth goes abroad

[webfact]

REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
As the world watches, PM Prayuth goes abroad
Kavi Chongkittavorn

BANGKOK: -- September 22, 2014 1:00 amNow it is time to show the world what kind of person is Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha. The world's microscope will be zero in on him when he visits Milan for the 10th Asia-Europe Summit on 16-17 October in Italy.

He will meet up with at least 52 world leaders from the two continents, among them were those condemned his power seizure on 22 May. Since then, he often pledged that the military taking over the country's administration was necessary and temporary in nature. He believes fervently it will bring rule of law and happiness to the Thai peoples.

For upcoming trips, he must prepare well and have good answers to three lingering questions in the minds of global leaders. First, it is about the state of freedom of expression in Thailand, which has suffered a serious blow since he took power. Myanmar's media freedom, despite some recent setbacks, is now rated higher than Thai media landscape. Second, the public participation and debate in public policies is lacking throughout, making mockery of the government's promise of shared values and vision. Third, there must be an appropriate time frame for the return of normal political process. Prayuth said the next election would be held next October but as the days go by it has become tentative.

When he is on foreign trips, Prayuth will be alone and most importantly, he will face the global opinion leaders who will not sit idly. Absolutely, he would not be able to stand up for hours to lecture about the do's and don'ts to international audience. In addition, he must give good reasons why the martial law is still in place. The Western concept of martial law usually declared and imposed during war and critical times. Unlike the previous prime minister who spoke broken English, Prayuth decided last week that he will converse only in Thai and use an interpreter from the Foreign Ministry.

On 10-11 November, he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Leaders' Meeting (APECLM) in Beijing with 21 leaders from the region. His performance there will be watched closely by the world over. Since the seating of participants follow aphetically, Prayuth will sit next to US President Barrack Obama, whose government had unkind words against him. Least we forgot, at the APECLM in November 1997 at Vancouver, former prime minister Chuan Leekpai sat next to former US President Bill Clinton and stuck up a solid friendship with shared stories of their childhood growing up in rural area. Four months later in March 1998, Clinton invited Chuan to Washington DC and was given a red-carpet treatment - staying at the Blair House coupling with the US$1.7 billion aid package. Clinton praised Chuan for uplifting Thailand's economy and democracy after the Asian economic crisis.

It was unfortunate that he decided to skip the UN General Assembly later this month and dispatched instead one of his deputies, Gen Tanasak Patimayagorn, who is concurrently the foreign minister. After the September coup in 2006, former prime minister Gen Surayuth Chulanond made his first appearance a year later at the UN General Assembly in 2007. Along with the Asean leaders, they came out with a strong statement criticizing Myanmar of the suppression of pro-democracy movement. In New York at the sideline of the UN meeting, Tanasak will join other Asean foreign ministers for a special meeting next week.

However, the most important meeting would be at the 25th Asean Summit in Nay Pyi Taw on 12-13 November. At the moment, he is tentatively scheduled to visit Nay Phi Taw later this month ahead of the summit. Political pundits have said the Thai and Myanmar military leaders were buddies due to their strong ties for decades and could influence the future direction of Asean. During his recent visit to Bangkok, Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing praised the Thai military for doing the right thing safeguarding the national interest. It was widely report in the Thai press that Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, who knew Min Aung Laing's late father, was the army chief's adopted godfather.

His interactions with the Asean leaders at the summit would be a precursor of his future ties with them. On two occasions - last December and April - the Asean leaders expressed concern over the political situation in Thailand fearing that it would impact on the realisation of Asean Community at the end of 2015. Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged the Asean leaders to support her government and condemn the undemocratic forces but they chose to show restraints. In his government's policy statement recently, Prayuth highlighted the country's integration with the Asean Community and utilisation of the master plan of connectivity as his top foreign policy priorities.

All said, it is an uphill task for Gen Prayuth, who has spent most of his career in the Thai army's Queen Guard Regiment. Prayuth and his military friends must be realistic when engaging the unfamiliar turf outside. After all, the Western notion of political legitimacy remains sacrosanct that an elected government even at its worst is still better than a non-elected one. His Thai-style strong and know-all leadership must be carefully managed. At the end of the day, he still has to convince the international community to judge his administration on the outcome of extensive reform agenda as well as anti-corruption and anti-despotism campaign.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/As-the-world-watches-PM-Prayuth-goes-abroad-30243773.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-22

[terryp]

he will fit right in , all high ranked military men love the kow towing it makes them feel important and helps them forget they are public servants

[HeijoshinCool]

When he is on foreign trips, Prayuth will be alone ….

I think he should at least take along his DNA expert. You know, the one who has been advising him so far.

Oh, and his women's advocate advisor.

[siampolee]

terryp post # 2

he will fit right in , all high ranked military men love the kow towing it makes them feel important and helps them forget they are public servants

He will fit right in , all high ranked politicians love the kow towing it makes them feel important and helps them forget they are public servants

​All rather like his predecessors over the last 4 or so years, who still in some cases regard themselves as important..

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-exiled-former-thai-leader-thaksin-i-m-like-a-rat-a-619943.html

[Fred Flinstone]

He is banned from Australia from travel here-

He is also never going to be addressed or given any ear by "'any "" Australian Parliament representative.

The other Government members are also banned. *(From Australian soil)

[ThailandNoob]

Should be some interesting fireworks, as it will be the first time Prayuth has to deal with people saying all the things that are banned in this forum, without being able to arrest them at will for "attitude adjustment".

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[falangjim]

He is banned from Australia from travel here-

He is also never going to be addressed or given any ear by "'any "" Australian Parliament representative.

The other Government members are also banned. *(From Australian soil)

Interesting. Why?

[rubl]

Should be some interesting fireworks, as it will be the first time Prayuth has to deal with people saying all the things that are banned in this forum, without being able to arrest them at will for "attitude adjustment".

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

At least during the meetings the language will be somewhat less hate and spitful than some of the stuff we've seen here. Maybe even constructive as in "tone it down, that would help us back home".

On the other hand maybe I'm a bit too cynical about all that international alarm.

[rubl]

He is banned from Australia from travel here-

He is also never going to be addressed or given any ear by "'any "" Australian Parliament representative.

The other Government members are also banned. *(From Australian soil)

Interesting. Why?

Maybe because PM Prayuths ideas on bikinies and women reminds Australians too much of their attitude to Sheilas

[Orac]

What exactly is this anti-despotism campaign being referred and who are they targetting???

[BSJ]

Lets be serious. The reality is Thailand isn't very important on the world stage. The other leaders will be pleasant and smile, shake hands and have conversation but they will be beating their own drums when it comes down to it.

Thailand in Asia is a bit like the odd man out. If American and Japanese companies hadn't set-up shop here it would still be old Siam.

[kurnell]

Does this dude speak English?

[chainarong]

One wonders just how much of the world will be looking , Thailand plays no role in world decision making, plays no monetary roll , after that who cares, Thailand plays an important role in the area it is situated in , the more closer Thailand becomes to China the less other larger or influential countries will be friends with Thailand, Thailand can dance to its own tune , depends what that tune is , as for Australia not welcoming P.M. Prayuth, as has been said , show me that memo from the Australian Governments media unit or any interview from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, as I haven't seen any that says that , Thailand has close ties with Australia and the heads of departments or business are in Australia or vise versa on a weekly basis.

[PaullyW]

Does this dude speak English?

Yes, sapeek Englit can.

[eeworldwide]

The English grammar in this reportage is appalling.

[Suriya4]

First we have Mark that speak perfect English, then come Yingluck with broken English. Now we have Prayuth with no English. Darwin would have described it as reverse evolution. TIT.

[noitom]

He and Thailand will both be alone.

[Patje]

I wish him all the luck in the " big bad world " outside the LOS !!

[baboon]

Should be some interesting fireworks, as it will be the first time Prayuth has to deal with people saying all the things that are banned in this forum, without being able to arrest them at will for "attitude adjustment".

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It doesn't really matter what the other leaders say if you can simply order your media to report on what a success it all was, for your own domestic consumption.

[Woodsie888]

Does this dude speak English?

Yes, sapeek Englit can.

A litten bit

[JoeLing]

Unlike the previous prime minister who spoke broken English, Prayuth decided last
week that he will converse only in Thai and use an interpreter from the Foreign Ministry.

Sure those world leaders will be very disappointed that Prayuth has decided to have a
proper interpreter with him like many other statesmen do. Must have been so much fun
in the past when Yingluck was speaking.

[ChrisY1]

The English grammar in this reportage is appalling.

I think it's quite usual.....appalling is correct though

[wandasloan]

... , as for Australia not welcoming P.M. Prayuth, as has been said , show me that memo from the Australian Governments media unit or any interview from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, as I haven't seen any that says that , Thailand has close ties with Australia and the heads of departments or business are in Australia or vise versa on a weekly basis.

I've been testing this brand new thing... Gruel or Groggle... something like that. Seems to work.

(Reuters) - Australia downgraded ties with Thailand on Saturday in the wake of this month's military coup, imposing a travel ban on the junta leaders and cutting defence cooperation in some of the toughest punitive measures taken by a foreign government.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/31/uk-thailand-politics-australia-idUKKBN0EB06O20140531

First we have Mark that speak perfect English... [snip] [snip]

I'm pretty sure there were a couple before him. They didn't wait for you to start appointing prime ministers. Most spoke no English but it never seemed to matter and I'm sure it doesn't matter today, either. I'm unaware of a single achievement or a single disappointment to Thailand or a political leader (or a jackbooted military thug, lord knows there were too many of them) that resulted from language ability.

Frankly, "Oh he speaks English so well" is about as patronising as you can get without the adjective "Oriental" thrown in.

.

Edited September 22, 2014 by wandasloan

[yellowboat]

Nobody who got to the top campaigning will not show a coup leader any respect, unless he is offering something.

[Tatsujin]

I'm going to expand on that one . . . ALL "Politicians" love the kowtowing as you called it and most didn't know in the first place that they serve "the public" . . . and one lady in particular took an AWFUL lot of trips whilst in "power" recently.

Ah, moral equivalence. Isn't it great? Yingluck travelled a lot and got a lot of kowtowing. Therefore according to your post this is EXACTLY what Prayut should do too. Or what? Otherwise you won't respect him?

This is where one-side, biased, no-issue, all-personality people fall down. You are terrific at pointing out the undeniable (and undenied) flaws of your hated targets. But when your hero does the same thing, well, heck, that's okay because Mister Mxyzptlk did it after all.

It doesn't occur to you that your hero has flaws. In this case, he is alleged to have exactly the same flaw as The Borg Queen. But that's no longer a flaw, it's a strength, right? Because moral equivalence. Praise Yingluck or criticise Prayut - my, such a hard choice, right? Doing the right thing doesn't count at all, right?

Wow, that was a rant and a half and completely missed the point of what I wrote.

I was putting ALL Politicians in the same basket and pointing out that they are (in my opinion) all as bad as each other, don't serve "the public" whatsoever and are pretty much all fairly despicable lowlifes, but you go right ahead and misread my post completely to further your own agenda and your requirement to rant some more. Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning by any chance?

Yes, I happened to mention your "Borg Queen" (I'm using your term here as you so nicely put it) as she took a VERY LARGE number of trips during her tenure, far more than ANY other PM I believe, ever, in such a short period of time, hinting at the fact that she perhaps likes the kowtowing an awful lot. When the current PM makes similarly large amounts of overseas trips of questionable benefit to "the country", then I'll criticize him for that, until then, it's one of the first trips for him, so I hope it has some benefit to Thailand and its people as a whole.

Lastly, please don't put words in my mouth . . . as you often tend to do with people you reply to . . . your whole post (and many others of yours) are full of YOUR assumptions, not facts, and certainly not related to what I actually wrote.

[Thailand]

I doubt if he will be even received by many of the ministers of the other countries attending.

He is likely to be be persona non grata?

[animatic]

One wonders just how much of the world will be looking , Thailand plays no role in world decision making, plays no monetary roll , after that who cares, Thailand plays an important role in the area it is situated in , the more closer Thailand becomes to China the less other larger or influential countries will be friends with Thailand, Thailand can dance to its own tune , depends what that tune is , as for Australia not welcoming P.M. Prayuth, as has been said , show me that memo from the Australian Governments media unit or any interview from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, as I haven't seen any that says that , Thailand has close ties with Australia and the heads of departments or business are in Australia or vise versa on a weekly basis.

It is in The Guardian May 31st.

[klauskunkel]

while the world's microscope will be zero in on him on the 10th Asia-Europe Summit, seating aphetically next to US President Barack Obama who is neither Asian, nor European...He will meet up with at least 52 World Leaders whose job it is to lead the world in a different direction for each week of the year, and that's why we have earthquakes, because of the abrupt direction and gear changes...

[Plutojames88]

Australian law prohibits Junta leader/ Government of Thailand or family members from Australian entry.

Being caught ( eg arrival by private Jet) they will be subjected to imprisonment .

No Australian representative will acknowledge in any capacity the office of the current Pm.

[wandasloan]

I doubt if he will be even received by many of the ministers of the other countries attending.

He is likely to be be persona non grata?

The standard practice is either to shake hands and talk politely about the weather - or not let him in, as they used to do with the nice generals from Burma. You don't invite someone and then make him PNG. Not even Europeans would do that.

If he's there, he won't be actually shunned. Handshakes and small smiles and much discussion of his flight and the cool temperature will take place. Embraces? None. Two-handed handshakes? None. Handshake with other hand on the shoulder? Rub a lamp.

He will have little to say himself because his aides will tell him that no one will pay attention (see today's Page 1 of the English newspaper whose name starts with "Bangkok"). He will be there, in the words of at least a dozen very learned analysts seen and heard on TV and a couple of newspaper, to learn and show that Thailand is very concerned about its role and image in the world. And also blah-blah-blah and certainly yadda-yadda etc etc etc. In preparation, next time you fly, steal a few of those special plastic-lined bags.

My opinion is that the chances of his actually accomplishing anything but forced-smile front-page handshaking pictures for the swooning adulating masses of Thailand range from none, all the way to none at all. This is not, however, a minor achievement on the homefront, where the media will be forced to say that Europe welcomed him and obviously the diplomatic opposition to the coup is crumbling. And who will contradict them?

.