“Now I think the country has been in huge trouble since you took power,” said Tanawat Wongchai, an economics sophomore student at Chulalongkorn University.

The message is in a public invitation he posted on Facebook on Tuesday night.

However, the prime minister is not likely to accept the invitation as he does not like to “argue back and forth” with student activists, Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

“Anyone should consider the status of debaters before accepting an invitation. A student debating with a national leader is an unlikely scene,” Sansern said. “You’d better ask Chulalongkorn University deans whether they would agree to join such a debate if they were the prime minister.”

While Prayut’s refusal to join the debate was no surprise, Tanawat affirmed that he was always ready should the PM ever change his mind.

The proposed debate aims to seek solutions on “issues perceived to be very challenging to the country”, the 19-year-old student said. These would include fiscal sustainability in an ageing society, environmental issues and the government-declared national agendas on human rights and Thailand 4.0 economic scheme, he added.

Tanawat was one of a few students holding a paper banner in protest against the junta leader, who gave a special lecture at the university last Monday. Seeing the handwritten message “Chula students love Uncle Too [dictator]”, Prayut said in response: “You’re so smart. Do come out next time when the country is in trouble.”

The confrontation was followed by uninvited visits from military officers to the students and their associations a few days after. Tanawat’s faculty was approached by officers who attempted to ask for information about him.

Tanawat subsequently joined other students in bringing a petition to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regional Office for Southeast Asia, calling for international attention to what they saw as harassment by authorities.

Tanawat (center) when he filed a petition on alleged harassment committed by authorties to the OHCHR on April 11

He told The Nation that he was not afraid if the debate invitation brought him more threats.

“My debate invitation stemmed from Prayut’s ‘invitation’ to us. How could this be any threat to national security?” he said. “But it may be a threat to the junta government’s security. For one thing is certain: Thais will get to see the government’s vision from this debate.”

Tanawat said he thought that a dialogue with the leader should be possible for the the country’s youth. “If Oxford University students could ask for a debate with [United Kingdom] PM Theresa May, why could we not do the same thing here in Thailand? Debates with leaders should not be limited to political players,” he said.

“I’m not the best speaker out there but I have researched academically to some extent,” he said. “Prayut may be known for being talkative but the debate should be able to justify whether he is also a good speaker.”

Tanawat, who now serves as deputy head of the university’s student council, became an activist in his high school years with the Education for Liberation group, where he explored subjects of conservatism in traditional school rules and education policy.

Yuttaporn Issarachai, political scientist from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said Prayut was building a political network in preparation for the upcoming election.

He said Prayut’s political intention was noticeable when he travelled upcountry to meet with several politicians from small and medium-sized parties.

Prayut is trying to build a base of allies who come from different backgrounds but share the same purpose of backing his return as head of the government, an analyst said.

Stithorn Thananithichot, a political analyst from King Prajadhipok’s Institute, said Prayut was making deals with these political groups to create a “stepping stone” for his premiership bid.

It was possible that these groups together could gain 126 seats in the House of Representatives. When combined with the 250 junta-appointed senators, it would be sufficient to put Prayut in the government’s top job, he said.

“The new election method actually allows this. If Pheu Thai and the Democrat parties won the constituencies, they would not get anymore seats for the party-lists. Then, these seats would go to these smaller parties that will back Prayut,” he explained.

The PM has come under criticism from politicians and observers for his recent political moves, which have been viewed as paving the way for his return to power.

Sudarat Keyuraphan, a key member of Pheu Thai Party, urged Prayut to be straightforward about his political ambitions and stop exploiting state resources to fortify his position. Jurit Laksanawisit, the former spokesman for the Democrat Party, said Prayut should hire more advisers to teach him about morality, in addition to the political understanding he was seeking.

The reactions came after the Cabinet on Tuesday appointed Sontaya Kunplome to be Prayut’s political adviser and Ittipol Kunplome to be adviser to the tourism and sports minister.

Before the appointment of the Phalang Chon politicians, Prayut met with politicians from the Sasomsap family who are influential in Nakhon Pathom province and Somsak Thepsutin, who is influential in Sukhothai, Yuttaporn noted. And the PM is likely to see many more politicians in future mobile Cabinet meetings, the analyst predicted.

Prayut is scheduled to hold a mobile Cabinet meeting in Buri Ram province,  a stronghold of veteran politician Newin Chidchob, on May 7 and 8.

However, these politicians were unlikely to leave their current parties to join a new, pro-junta party, Yuttaporn said.

They would more likely keep their affiliation but would join with the 250 senators to later vote for Prayut as an outsider prime minister, he said.

“This is because voters in recent years have come to understand that when they vote for a candidate, it matters to the party, too. So, if these politicians leave their current party and join with a pro-military group, it is likely that they would lose the election,” he said.

Pheu Thai Party’s  key figure Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan

Meanwhile, Sudarat yesterday called on Prayut to “act manly” and make it clear if he wanted to become a politician.

She said the move to appoint Sontaya demonstrated clearly Prayut’s desire to become prime minister after the election and prolong his rule as much as possible.

The problem now was that the junta leader was exploiting his absolute power and state resources to gain advantage over all other parties which were frozen by the coup-makers’ order, she said.

This was not genuine democracy, Sudarat said. But if Prayut could be straightforward about his ambitions and not play outside the rules, all parties would welcome it, she said.

“On the other hand, if he continues to be secretive, he will be questioned by the public,” she said.

Jurit said Prayut’s appointment of a political adviser was not surprising. However, he found it strange that after four years in power, Prayut now says he is ignorant about politics.

“But since he’s already appointed an adviser. I think he may as well appoint two more advisers – one to advise him about the people’s needs and the other about morality,” Jurit said.

Government officials yesterday played down the appointments. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam declined to say whether the appointments of the Kunplome brothers were to reinforce Prayut’s political influence. But he admitted that Prayut himself had proposed the appointments.

Prayut specifically wanted Sontaya to help oversee the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Wissanu said, adding that Sontaya had volunteered to create a better understanding among local people.

“His stronghold’s already geographically in the area of the EEC and the people need to understand how they’ll benefit. And Sontaya has people working in the area,” Wissanu said.

Jurit Laksanawisit

“There could be an attempt to come to Thailand but we are ready to defend ourselves,” Prawit said. “Like in other countries, they might try to set up a branch in Thailand but we can prevent that.”

His reaction followed a Malaysian report that four ISIS members, suspected of planning attacks on non-Muslim places of worship, had fled to the deep South.

Three of them are Malaysians and one is a Thai, Prawit said. Two have already been caught but the other two are on the run.

Thai authorities are investigating whether they have any links to ISIS, he said.