Prayut Chan-o-cha (previously spelt Prayuth Chan-ocha; Thai: ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา; IPA: [prà.jút tɕān.ʔōː.tɕʰāː]; born 21 March 1954) is a former Thai army officer[2] who is now (2014) the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a military junta that has the power to control the prime minister.
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.
During the political crisis that began in November 2013 and involved protests against the caretaker government of Yingluck, Prayut claimed that the army was neutral,[10] and would not launch a coup. However, in May 2014, Prayut launched a military coup against the government and then assumed control of the country as NCPO leader.[11] He later issued an interim constitution granting himself sweeping powers and giving himself amnesty for staging the coup.[12] In August 2014, a military-dominated national legislature, whose members were handpicked by Prayut, elected him as the new prime minister.[13][14]
After seizing power, Prayut launched crackdowns on dissent.[15] He required all students in Thai schools to recite the twelve "values"[16] as formulated by him.[17][18] He has also banned public discussion about democracy and any criticism of his