“The mafia problem must not happen again, and especially with taxis,” he said.
PM Prayut blamed the style of thinking in failure to solve recurring problems.
“Thais do not come up with systems as a way to solve problems,” he said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the depth and extent of problems of failing to deal with such issues, and targeted his comments at officials.
“How do others benefit from your work?” he posed. “And how do poor people, small people, get any benefit from you? All the results from our work must be transferred to ordinary people.
“Everything must be done from the heart. I am sorry to speak out loud, but if I don’t speak about this, then nobody will talk about it. This must be done, with nothing expected in return,” he said.
“Any questions?” he asked.
In closing, PM Prayut said, “I wish everyone to rise up, be rich and happy – but don’t forget the small people. Don’t make small people complain about you to me much. Take care of them.”
After his message to officials, PM Prayut walked the concourse, talking with tourist arrivals and and officials en route. He also stopped to chat with Tai Monkong, better known as Thai celebrity “Mr Bean Phuket”, accompanied by his brown teddy bear.