Prayut denies political ambition, urges new university
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PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha has told a gathering of Hua Hin residents that he will not contest the next general election but before he steps down he would like to set the foundation for a new university in the resort city and a high-speed rail link w
“I’m glad to see all of you here, since I belong here too because my father once worked here,” he said yesterday while in town for the mobile Cabinet meeting.
“I have ideas to set up a new-|concept university for studies in |sufficiency economy. We will have light manufacturing to create jobs for local people here and we will have high-speed trains from Bangkok to here to promote tourism.
“So please be patient when officials try to keep the beach in order.”
The government thinks about poor and low-income people all the time and is helping people to get out from under the burden of informal debt, mostly from loan sharks, he said.
“Our country has a threat but all of us can stop it and cooperate with the reform [efforts],” he said.
Prayut pointed to the founder of modern-day Singapore, the late Lee Kuan Yew, who he said spent more than 30 years developing that |country.
“He prohibited Singaporeans from doing many things, such as picking public flowers, dumping garbage, chewing gum and spitting. I cannot do it like him but please give me a chance,” he said.
“How long do you want me to stay [in power]?” he said.
“Thirty years,” someone shouted.
“Oh, I might die, then. No. I want to take a rest after retirement,” he said. “I insist that I don’t want to be a politician but I cannot stay away” while the country is in trouble.
Foreigners will understand the situation in Thailand eventually, he said.
“We have to help Thai people first, election and democracy later. You will have that right [democracy] some day,” he said. “Whom will you choose in the election?”
“You,” someone replied.
Prayut said: “No, no, no, I won’t run in the race.
“I didn’t come here for a political campaign. I have no political party.”
Prayut admitted that the |economy was sluggish and said his government could not spark a |recovery in a short period.
He blamed previous governments for failing to lay down strong fundamentals for the economy, while farmers were hit with high production costs with low profits.
His government plans to help paddy farmers reduce their production costs, as they sell rice at Bt7,000-Bt8,000 a tonne while their production cost is Bt6,000. They earn too low of a margin, he said.
“The rice-pledging scheme cost the country Bt600 billion – it’s too much,” he said. “I don’t blame anybody but let the justice system work on that problem.”
The government has to pay Bt2.6 billion monthly for rice stocks from that project, he said.
Later, Prayut gave locals the chance to detail daily problems they faced and promised to take the issues into account.
