Prawit woos young-gen voters with choreographed meeting at Army club

Prawit, the PPRP's sole prime ministerial candidate, held a choreographed meeting with youngsters at the Royal Thai Army Sports Centre in Bangkok's Bang Khen district on Thursday.

He asked them to help “overcome conflict in society so that Thailand could develop”.

Attending the meeting were new university graduates, young-gen business operators, and three Chinese students who are studying in Thailand.

Prawit, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and black jeans, held a ceremony with the youngsters to mark the start of the Songkran festival.

Young-gen business operator Chanakarn Buranapornchai thanked the PPRP leader for his efforts to take care of people, especially as caretaker prime minister last year.

Prawit took over at the helm of the country in August after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was suspended pending a Constitutional Court ruling on whether he had completed his eight-year term.

"During that time, Prawit ordered various sectors to tackle issues effectively, so our businesses recovered," Chanakarn said.

An unidentified young-gen representative said Prawit's policy to promote employment of people with disabilities had helped improve their quality of life.

A fellow representative said they wanted to see Prawit become the next prime minister.

Wednesday’s choreographed meeting came after Prawit held talks with Patsaravalee “Mind” Tanakitvibulpon, a member of the pro-democracy Ratsadon group, last month.

Prawit has sought to distance himself from his former brother-in-arms Prayut, who was a target of youth-led pro-democracy protests after staging the 2014 coup as Army chief. Many observers see Prawit, also a former Army chief, as the architect of the 2014 coup. Speaking to Patsaravalee on March 23, Prawit made a similar plea for national unity but refused to rule out the possibility of future coups in Thailand.