PM says he does not aspire to be in power for the next 20 years

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha reaffirmed that the 20-year national strategy crafted by his government was not intended to put him in power for the next 20 years.

“What for, to stay on for another 20 years?  (I am) over 60, already too old and should take rest,” he told students and lecturers in his speech on “Chulalongkorn University and the Country’s Drive Forward during the Transition Period” at the university’s main auditorium on Monday(Apr 9).

He said there were people who misinterpreted the national strategic plan to mean his aspiration to stay on in power, adding that the plan was not rigid and could be revised or adjusted.

He said his heart and mind have always with the military and to serve in military service and he never aspired to become prime minister.  But for some reasons, he said he was put to serve as prime minister.

Touching on the influx of tourists into the country, the prime minister urged the Thai people to behave like a good host to welcome the tourists so they would keep coming back in the same vein like the ChulalongkornUniversity which gave him a warm welcome.

He told the audience that he had a special ties with the university, having made frequent visits in the past to pick up his wife and his children.

He urged the students to be good law-abiding citizens no matter what they would become in the future, be it a soldier, a nurse, a doctor or a teacher.  It does not matter to be moneyless., but never be thoughtless, he said.