Prayut is a former Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army , the post he held from October 2010 to October 2014 . After his appointment as army chief , Prayut was characterised as a strong royalist and an opponent of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra . Considered a hardliner within the military , he was one of the leading proponents of military crackdowns on the Red Shirt demonstrations of April 2009 and April – May 2010 . He later sought to moderate his profile , talking to relatives of protesters who were killed in the bloody conflict , and co-operating with the government of Yingluck Shinawatra who won parliamentary elections in July 2011
April – May 2010
2010 Thai political protests
Prayut Chan-o-cha