There are a lot of countries in the world that you are at least to some degree allowed to be critical or even offensive towards whoever happens to be in power. Thailand is not one of those countries now. I think there was a time when it was, but I didn't live here then.
These days there are a lot of people that have had enough of Prime Minister Prayut and this was before Covid too. For many, they believe he has been using Covid restrictions as a tool with which to limit the protests that were growing in number and any time these protests re-emerge he enacts them again.
Just like any government leader of any country around the world, these leaders stage events to try to convey that the people are behind them and that is what has been happening lately with the Thai Prime Minister. Someone posing as a supporter was able to get up close and personal with the much-disliked PM and had some choice words for him as he approached the crowd that he was expecting to all great him with admiring reactions.
It's quite surprising to me that this actually made it to the major reporting websites because normally something like this would be suppressed by the basically state-controlled media. This is the wonder of various chat apps like Telegram and LINE (a chat app) where users are able to anonymously get information anyway. I think the government was aware that the people already knew and any attempt to bury this story would actually hurt them.
The woman hasn't been identified by the media and is being referred to simply as "Nong Ying," which is a very common nickname in Thailand. As far as I can tell but it apparently isn't too difficult to find out who she is because she claims that she was later visited by police. A claim that the government and the police deny. She wasn't detained or threatened but a visit from the police is probably threatening enough for most people.
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She doesn't appear to be seeking fame or fortune from this and from the translated interview I saw with her she seems to have a sound mind and a very pleasant demeanor. The interaction went down like this
Woman: "We need serious development, if you cannot do this then you should retire quickly"
Prayut: "What do you mean? Look how much I have accomplished"
Woman: "I know, you told us to raise fish and lemons so we could sell lemonade on Mars"
This must be some sort of Thai joke that I am too not Thai to get the humor from, but it seems innocent enough. It's not like she milkshaked him or anything like that but it just goes to show that any questioning of authority that is done face-to-face instead of masked in large groups like is done in the mass protests will be met with a visit from the gestapo.
I applaud her bravery and am also happy that she went to the press, even international press thus insuring the fact that she doesn't just disappear in the night. "Nong Ying" is not a powerful person with political ties, she is merely a worker at a noodle stall who like many millions of other Thais has seen their already humble lifestyle decimated by repeated lockdowns and regulations.
For every "Nong Ying" that is willing to speak out, there are a thousand more that are afraid of retribution. She's a hero and I hope that she manages to accomplish great things in her life. I hope the media will continue to check in on her to insure her safety because I don't think there are very many people that believe that the current administration is above simply making her go away to the gulag.