Should we fear this man?

Why, all of a sudden, does the little-known deputy Army chief attract so much political attention? Poised to replace General Anupong Paochinda and having four years to steer the Army, a coup must be the furthest thing from General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s mind at the moment. Avudh Panananda reports

Although General Prayuth Chan-ocha is known to his colleagues as a mild-mannered and staid soldier, the deputy Army chief is being seen – given the backdrop of political turbulence – to have a pivotal role in a coup plot that could alter the course of Thai political history.

Regardless of whether the storyline is a figment of the imagination or an open secret, Prayuth is the man of the hour, with friends and foes alike trying to stake a claim to him as being their own kind, or threatening to destroy him if he refuses to go their way.

The red shirts and a large number of Pheu Thai MPs link him to a coup plot. Their argument is that Prayuth wants to have the door slammed shut on a possible comeback by fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Proponents of this scenario include Pheu Thai’s Jatuporn Promphan, Nisit Sinthuprai, Suchart Lainamngern and Surapong Towijakchaikul.

The Nation