Prayut blows his stack at media again
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THROWS A DOCUMENT DURING A PRESS |CONFERENCE IN A FIT OF RAGE; VOWS TO GET TOUGHER WITH JOURNOS
PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha erupted again with anger yesterday and threw a document at reporters during a press conference at an Air Force airfield.
This was followed by a threat, partly in jest, by the PM of exercising his absolute power as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) under the provisional constitution and executing journalists who create divisions in society.
Prayut appeared tense throughout the 23-minute press conference and his voice quivered with anger on some points. He urged the media not to criticise legal cases that are deemed political by some. He challenged some columnists who were critical of him to administer the country in his place or to become MPs if they thought they were more capable.
“I have given you freedom. I have never forbidden you from doing anything. Nobody gives you this much [press freedom]. I shall observe for a period the work of the media.
“All that the government and I have been doing is for the good of all Thais … Anyone who does not get this is not human.
“The media must help. From now on, I will follow all media and, if necessary, exercise my power … You can criticise me, but have you forgotten the orders of the NCPO? Perhaps things are too comfortable,” the prime minister told reporters angrily.
He berated the media for speculating that there is a rift between his two deputy prime ministers, General Prawit Wongsuwan, who is in charge of security, and MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, who is in charge of economic policy. He raised his voice and said, “It’s only you folks who talk about it,” adding that there was not going to be any Cabinet reshuffle any time soon.
Prayut defended his administration, saying solving the Kingdom’s problems was no easy task as there were 70 million people, and the number of problems had increased from hundreds to more than a thousand at present. People should help one another instead of creating a rift, said the prime minister.
Reporters asked Prayut to reconfirm what would happen to a news medium or journalist deemed to be causing a rift in society. The PM replied that he would first let media associations investigate but if nothing substantial came out of that, he would have his own committee investigate.
Prayut added that normal criticism was acceptable but asked how some media outlets could keep repeating every day that this government is a failure.
He claimed the previous democratically elected administration was even more a failure, and since his government started from there, it could only get better.
“Why don’t you think like this?” asked Prayut, who seized power in a coup last year.
When asked if some media outlets could be shut down by his junta, he said: “Don’t drag me into a fight with the media.”
When reporters pressed him on what would be the ultimate punishment against such a news medium or journalist, Prayut said: “Perhaps execution. What kind of careless question is that? So don’t do [what I forbid]. Be more careful.
“The media must have their own discretion and ethics. They demand ethics but don’t know how to use them,” said Prayut, adding that he was not asking the media to pay lip service to his government. He said he merely wanted to see constructive criticism.
He warned that henceforth he would be even more stern.
Towards the end of the conference, Prayut said he had decided against broadcasting a report on television during weekends on his government’s achievements in its first six months, saying if it was broadcast on a holiday nobody would pay any attention.
He also admitted that he had been too quick to announce earlier that there could be an election late this year. He said people should not feel too troubled by the election date.
After the press conference, the PM left for an official visit to Brunei.
