Asked if he should be responsible for the billions of baht it may cost the state to settle with an Australian mining concern he shut down by fiat last year – while his elected predecessor was held criminally and financially liable for the losses of a graft-tainted subsidy program – Prayuth said he had no such responsibility.
“Talking in terms of using the Article 44 in this country, I don’t have to be held accountable at all. I can do whatever,” Prayuth said Tuesday. “If talking in terms of arbitration law or international law, then we will have to fight the case…But when I use the Article 44, I don’t have to fear anything, because it protects me.”
To have used those words suggests megalomania to me (not to mention supreme arrogance). Also, won't be long before his criminal mate Suthep is appointed to a position of power too rather than being in prison (or the sewer) which is where he belongs.
If I was the El Generalissimo then I'd be looking for a way to 'get off the tiger's back' before he gets bitten and walk off into the sunset. However, power corrupts and is addictive...most can't let go. (Off topic I know) Also nice to see him meeting the real person in charge of Burma yesterday too.
"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely". The second part of Lord Acton's quote you can google and judge for yourself.
Seriously, let's remember how this person came to power and what is propping him up; this attitude can hardly be a surprise to anyone. He is answerable to nobody and a democracy is not only predicated by free and fair elections but a free press and independent judiciary.
That few in the international community are too bothered by this governing body's proclamations and treatment of its citizens shows just how irrelevant the country has become.
"A man who does not think for himself, does not think at all." Wilde
Actions like this, the upside down libel laws and the absurd misuse of Lèse-majesté all go to show how insecure this government and others like it feel.