PM squanders an opportunity

Ihad no intention to bash Dear Leader this week, but the laughter I heard after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attended a meeting of some of the world’s top business thinkers compels me to comment; I would be remiss as a journalist if I didn’t. Gen Prayut was invited to give the opening address when the alumni of The Wharton School, one of the world’s best business schools, held their annual meeting in Bangkok from March 13-15. His audience included many illustrious business figures as well as Wharton faculty, and the quality of the discussions was impressive and educational.

I was glad when I heard that Gen Prayut and Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula would be attending the event to talk about the economy and other issues. It was a great opportunity to communicate a timely message about Thailand to an influential audience.

The crowd of more than 700 delegates was expecting to hear something constructive from the leader of 67 million people, hoping to get a better sense of where he was taking Thailand. He may even have been able to persuade some of his listeners to spread the good word about Thailand when they got home.

But as usual, Dear Leader went to the podium and decided that he was not going to stick to the script.

Well, sticking to the script is hardly a big deal at events such as these. The speeches prepared for government leaders are full of predictable boilerplate about progress, growth and hope, and are widely available in print, in two languages, after the fact for anyone who cares. And people at such events are understanding when someone speaks in his native language if he’s not comfortable speaking from an English-language script.

Gen Prayut got the ball rolling by asking the Thais present to translate his remarks for the foreign delegates. By the time the speech was over, there was uncomfortable laughter in some quarters, but the joke was on you, Dear Leader.

Even for those who understood the language, your abrasive speaking style and the words you chose were not what those present had come to hear from you.

By now we in Thailand are well accustomed to your sarcasm and off-the-cuff remarks. We probably expected you to get in some digs at Washington for its disapproval of your “undemocratic” regime. You said you didn’t believe in the “one shirt fits all” view of democracy. Fair enough, but your business audience wanted to hear about business, not politics. And was this really the place to make a crack about possibly not being able to get a visa to the United States? That sent your handlers scrambling to issue clarifications.

And to think, Sir, that your key support base used to make such fun of Yingluck Shinawatra for her poor communication skills. Who’s laughing now?

Your wisecracking act may entertain viewers of your Friday night TV show at home, but it is a sign of arrogance to assume that people will listen to whatever you have to say no matter where they are from.

Did it not occur to you or your advisers that a gathering of top business figures required a different strategy? Why didn’t someone suggest coffee or dinner meetings with a select few in order to gather their input on how Thailand could be competitive in the years ahead? Maybe that would be too much to ask for someone who expects his every word to be obeyed and sulks when people don’t listen.

The country had high hopes when you stepped in to put an end to the turmoil on the streets, but as the 10th month of military rule passed yesterday, I’ve started to feel that it would be better to have a leader who reads the script and charms investors than one who intimidates them even while playing host.

Sir, with the economy faltering and disappointment mounting on all sides — even some of your fans in the People’s Democratic Reform Committee are wondering why they agitated so hard to pave the way for you — you may want to get some better advisers. They could coach you, if you’re willing to listen, on ways to deal with the international community.

We’re living in a global economy these days, Sir, and badgering businesses won’t lead the country anywhere. Every country is trying to lure foreign investment (even North Korea), so tone down the attitude. Local crowds (some of them) might like your tough-guy style, but globally the perception they have of you is not the best.