Thailand’s Leader Uses Cardboard Stand-In to Avoid Journalists’ Questions<br />Payuth said that If you want to ask any questions on politics or conflict,<br />In the past he has fondled the ear of a sound technician for several minutes during an impromptu news conference, flung a banana peel at cameramen<br />and threatened, with gruff humor, to execute any journalist who criticized his government.<br />The prime minister had briefly spoken to the news media after attending an event promoting the coming Children’s Day,<br />but he deployed his dodging tactic before anyone could ask him about a number of pressing political issues.<br />When it took power, his government, packed with members of the military, enjoyed considerable<br />public support for having ended a prolonged period of often-violent street politics.
