Prime Minister Prayut tries to win over red shirts

It is not the lion's den, because that is Chiang Mai, the birthplace of former Prime Minister Thaksin, but it is a red stronghold: the province and the provincial capital of the same name, Khon Kaen. Some courage cannot be denied to Prime Minister Prayut, because he paid a visit there yesterday.

During his speech at the Province House, five students managed to bypass security and made the three-finger gesture, borrowed from the film cycle, in front of the podium, on which the prime minister was speaking. The Hunger Games. And if you didn't know, they didn't give the Boy Scout salute, but protested the military coup of May 22. The five were quickly evacuated.

Prior to Prayut's visit, flyers welcoming the prime minister with the text 'Isan does not welcome dictatorship' had been found in the streets, but were hastily removed before the Great Helmsman arrived.

I can be brief about Prayut's speech. He promised to solve the region's problems, including drought. He also wielded the gavel at a meeting with governors from the Northeast (Isan) and government departments. They informed him about water supplies and preparations to fight the drought.

Prayuth threatened, "If the drought problems aren't eased next year, there will be some swing." After his visit to Khon Kaen (city), the prime minister took a look at the Lampao dam in the neighboring province of Kalasin.

Alongkorn Akkasaeng, a political science lecturer at Mahasarakham University, thinks Prayut will succeed. hearts and minds of the Isaan people "when he softens his personality and listens more to those who have different ideas from him."

But Sida Sonsri, an expert on political developments and Southeast Asia, is not so sure whether the prime minister will succeed. “The majority is still loyal to the previous government. It's not that easy to change their views in one day.'

(Source: Bangkok Post, 20 November 2014)