Other than his brief fling with dancing, Prayut’s trip to the deep South province focused on serious issues, especially the government’s Thailand 4.0 steering plan in the southern region and development funds and transformation loans to 30 local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Songkhla is one of eight model provinces under the SME funding scheme following the government-branded Pracha Rath, or cooperation among governmental, private and civil society sectors.