Does Prayuth's New Facebook Herald A Kinder, More Electable Strongman?

[snoop1130]

Does Prayuth's New Facebook Herald A Kinder, More Electable Strongman?

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

Cover photo of Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha and Team page on Facebook.

 

BANGKOK — Those who can’t get enough of junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha can now get an unfiltered feed via his first serious foray onto social media.

 

The page Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha and Team has more than 8,000 followers since it launched Aug. 18 with an image of Prayuth thanking the people who appreciate him. On Aug. 21, Prayuth –  or a member of his team – posted a candid-looking photo of the 63-year-old leader of the 2014 coup seriously mulling over some paperwork aboard a plane to Nakhon Ratchasima.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2017/08/28/prayuths-new-facebook-herald-kinder-electable-strongman/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-8-28

[johng]

Does Prayuth's New Facebook Herald A Kinder, More Electable Strongman?

NO ! ! !

[ChrisY1]

A general that stole his position...so now he has a social media page...plus television show...plus flower giving........probably many Thais will accept that stuff......but behind everything, he and his ilk have a loathing of the poor.

[candide]

Come on! He will never take the risk of being a candidate in an election. Maybe as an "unelected PM" thanks to the Senators he will appoint?

[Dah fahrang]

Won't be shutting Facebook down anytime soon then, general?

[Thechook]

Oh please stop it, it's still uncle tool no matter how much makeup he uses.

[harada]

Pass the tissues. 

[SABloke]

I wonder how much it's going to cost to employ a team of soldiers to register fake Facebook accounts and get more than 8,000 likes on Facebook? Abhisit's got 2.5 Million and Yingluck's got 6 million. I mean, even "Minecraft PE Thailand" has 15,000 likes. 

[colinneil]

Not long ago he was threatening to shut down facebook because of posts making Thailand look bad.

Now he is posting nonsense himself, unbelievable.

[JAG]

I wonder how much it's going to cost to employ a team of soldiers to register fake Facebook accounts and get more than 8,000 likes on Facebook? Abhisit's got 2.5 Million and Yingluck's got 6 million. I mean, even "Minecraft PE Thailand" has 15,000 likes. 

Since virtually every lad conscripted or volunteering to go into the armed forces will own a smartphone, and have a Facebook account it won't take long.
No "like", no breakfast?

[Godang]

Just checked his page.  Not much on it he has 35 Thai friends mostly relatives I suspect. 

[spidermike007]

Electable? This guy could not win a fair election, for the local chapter of the boy scouts. Are you kidding? He could not win an election as the mayor of Chumporn. The 8,000 followers are no doubt all members of the army, who were instructed by their superiors to join his page. Nobody is interested in anything he has to say. He is totally irrelevant, to most Thai people, who tend not to like him much at all. He is a strongman only in name. He is not strong. He has not follow up on his hundreds of proclamations. He is moving Thailand backwards at an alarming and astonishing pace. Though he has brought stability to the country, that is about all he has done. 

[maxpower]

[Krataiboy]

5 hours ago, SABloke said:

I wonder how much it's going to cost to employ a team of soldiers to register fake Facebook accounts and get more than 8,000 likes on Facebook? Abhisit's got 2.5 Million and Yingluck's got 6 million. I mean, even "Minecraft PE Thailand" has 15,000 likes. 

Is there a "Dislike" button - and what will happen to anyone who hits it?

[welshissan]

I believe that DJJamie,  Steven100, and onthesoi already have likes on there

[Denim]

Considering he was a frog in his last incarnation he has come a long way. Wonder what he will be in the next one ?

[Cadbury]

This photo must have been taken before he had the big dummy spit when Yingluck did a runner. That choirboy image doesn't fool anybody

[YetAnother]

18 hours ago, johng said:

 

NO ! ! !

 

this is all done by his handlers; we know the real person but some,perhaps many, thai will be sucked in by this

[Krataiboy]

With Yingluck gone and the opposition in disarray, who would bet against the junta forming a new political party with General Prayuth at its head and contesting the next election?

 

It seems a plausible explanation for the General's sudden and belated conversion to the world's most popular social media outfit - which only a week or two ago he was talking of banning from the Kingdom.

 

With 47 million Thais already on Facebook,  it is the perfect platform for giving Prayuth and the military junta a much-needed makeover before polling day.

 

Simply by joining the digital chattering classes the country's venerable and strait-laced leader will come across less as a dinosaur dork and more as a cool and with-it tech-savvy guy.

 

Give it a few months of chummy online chat to transform his somewhat irascible image and Facebook fans could be begging "Uncle" Prayuth  to stay on forever.