Prayut Chan-o-cha (previously spelt Prayuth Chan-ocha; Thai: ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา; IPA: [prà.jút tɕān.ʔōː.tɕʰāː]; born 21 March 1954) is a retired Royal Thai Army officer[2] who is the current (2015) Prime Minister of Thailand and head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a military junta that has the power to name the prime minister and control prime ministerial positions.
Prayut is a former Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, the post he held from October 2010 to October 2014.[3][4] After his appointment as army chief, Prayut was characterised as a strong royalist and an opponent of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.[5] Considered a hardliner within the military, he was one of the leading proponents of military crackdowns on the "Red Shirt" demonstrations of April 2009 and April–May 2010.[6][7] He later sought to moderate his profile, talking to relatives of protesters who were killed in the bloody conflict,[8] and co-operating with the government of Yingluck Shinawatra[9] who won parliamentary election in July 2011.