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Gaffe-prone: Thai Prime Minister Gen.
Prayuth Chan-ocha. Photo: AP.
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Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on
Thursday he was not afraid of the press, days before the government is to hold
a meeting to teach journalists how to ask questions that won't offend him.
Gaffe-prone
Prayuth has had a love-hate relationship with the media during the year since
he seized power, at one point saying he would probably "just execute"
journalists that "did not report the truth".
His office
later said the comment was made in jest.
Reuters report continues:
Affectionately
called 'Uncle Prayuth' by his admirers, he has overseen a period of relative
stability but has been criticized by rights groups for using heavy-handed
handed tactics against detractors.
Prayuth
said he has never tried to censor the media.
"I'm
not afraid of the press but I ask for fairness because I have never told the
press not to speak or write anything. I am friendly with the media,"
Prayuth told reporters.
"I do
not have control over the media, nor do they have power over me."
Winthai
Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, or National Council for Peace and Order,
said the government would hold a meeting next week for 200 local and foreign
journalists to "create understanding" and teach them how to ask
questions that will not offend Prayuth.
The
Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in a message to members of the foreign
press this week said it had been alerted to reports of journalists encountering
difficulties when trying to start, renew or change their media accreditation.
Winthai
said there was no policy to stop foreign journalists from renewing their visas
or applying to work in Thailand.
"Absolutely
not. There is no policy to stop foreign journalists from working in the
kingdom," he told Reuters.
Prayuth toppled the
government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a May 2014 coup, putting an
end to months of street demonstrations.
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