Hej
Läste i New York Times att juntan redan har spenderat 540 miljoner USD på PR kampanjer åt kungahuset och det bara i år.
Så att spendera pengar på PR är tydligen något juntan prioriterar.
Kopierade in det stycke i NYT artikel som rörde PR kampanjen och dom satsade 540 miljoner US Dollarna.
With King in Declining Health, Future of Monarchy in Thailand Is Uncertain
By THOMAS FULLERSEPT. 20, 2015
One way to assay the strength of the anti-monarchy movement might be by sizing up the military government’s efforts to counter it. The junta, which claims legitimacy from the king’s blessing, has positioned itself as the institution’s ultimate defender.
The ruling generals have been aggressive in jailing critics of the monarchy and this year alone are spending $540 million, more than the entire budget for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on a promotional campaign called “Worship, protect and uphold the monarchy.”
The campaign includes television commercials, seminars in schools and prisons, singing contests and competitions to write novels and make short films praising the king. The military also erected giant statues of past kings in the seaside town of Hua Hin, but said they were financed by private donations.
“This is not propaganda,” Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of the junta, said several months after seizing power last year. The youth, he said, “must be educated on what the king has done.”
In recent months the military has also appeared eager to burnish the reputation of the crown prince. Last month, Mr. Prayuth spent hours with the crown prince touring Bangkok by bicycle in a nationally televised event honoring Queen Sirikit, who is also in failing health.
The crown prince, 63, has been shown in Thai media and YouTube videos as youthful, athletic and a doting father, a contrast to the “Don Juan” the queen once called him.
Mr. Kasit, the former foreign minister, said the bicycle tour was a “turning point” for the prince.
“There are no more doubts inside the military establishment as to who will be the next monarch of Thailand,” Mr. Kasit said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/world/with-king-in-declining-health-future-of-monarchy-in-Thailand-is-uncertain.html?_r=0
Med vänlig hälsning isan lover
