Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont admitted an information campaign by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was a political problem, and will hire a US public relations firm for $55,000 (1.9 million baht) a month. to counter the Thaksin media juggernaut.
Gen Surayud said other countries would then understand what was happening in Thailand.
The world should understand the necessity for the armed forces to stage the Sept 19 coup so Thailand could progress toward democracy, he said.
Gen Surayud said the focus of image-boosting campaign would be mainly in the United States and other key allies.
The campaign, under the Foreign Ministry, will be undertaken over three months.
"It's better than doing nothing," he said when asked if three months was enough time to restore the country's image.
He said it could be extended.
Gen Surayud refused to disclose the name of the public relations firm.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the Thai embassy in the US will hire the firm at a cost of US$55,000 (1.9 million baht) a month.
Mr Tharit's remarks seemed to conflict with the prime minister's.
"The idea is to launch 'Thailand branding'. It's not to immediately counter all criticism against the government. They will advise us how to react since the firm has better access to the international and American media," Mr Tharit said.
The latest attack on the government came from USA for Innovation, which criticised Thailand for violating intellectual property rights by enforcing compulsory drug licensing.
The attack, in an advertisement appearing in the Wall Street Journal, compared the Surayud government with the military regime in Burma.
Mr Tharit said readers should recognise that Thailand and Burma are different and realise the message appeared in commercial space, not in a news article.
USA for Innovation, a lobby group for US drug firms, has Ken Adelman as its director. The former US ambassador to the United Nations is also a senior counsellor at Edelman Public Relations.
Chicago-based Edelman Public Relations represents Abbott Laboratories, which is involved in a patent dispute with Thailand over its Aids drug Kaletra.
Mr Edelman also wrote an article in the April 27 issue of the Washington Times criticising Thailand.
"The military has set its sights on stealing US innovation, the cornerstone of the American economy," the article said.
Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram said the US government was not involved in the criticism of the Thai government.
Source : Bangkok Post
Junta hires US PR firm to improve its image
Junta hires US PR firm to improve its image
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
I can't even start to consider some of the points in that article.
Armed forces used to lead a country to democracy? Well, there's a contradiction in terms if there ever was one. Mind you, time will tell.
I'll do the work for a fraction of that. Still got a lot of influential friends in the national press back home.
Why are they so worried about what the West thinks? I would have thought they'd spend more time trying to placate their own citizens. Then again, as always, they need our foreign investment, even if they havn't done too good a job of encouraging it since last September. And their own people - well, just feed them diluted, censored telly, newspapers and internet and they won't know any different anyway.
As far as the HIV/AIDS medicine is concerned, good luck to Thailand. I appreciate that drug companies spend masses on R&D etc, but also realise that Thailand (and any other country for that matter) has the right in international law to protect the health of its citizens any way it can. I don't actually think that Thailand can be prosecuted/sued over the manufacture of this medicine. The USA might impose sanctions, but that's about all they can do.
Armed forces used to lead a country to democracy? Well, there's a contradiction in terms if there ever was one. Mind you, time will tell.
I'll do the work for a fraction of that. Still got a lot of influential friends in the national press back home.
Why are they so worried about what the West thinks? I would have thought they'd spend more time trying to placate their own citizens. Then again, as always, they need our foreign investment, even if they havn't done too good a job of encouraging it since last September. And their own people - well, just feed them diluted, censored telly, newspapers and internet and they won't know any different anyway.
As far as the HIV/AIDS medicine is concerned, good luck to Thailand. I appreciate that drug companies spend masses on R&D etc, but also realise that Thailand (and any other country for that matter) has the right in international law to protect the health of its citizens any way it can. I don't actually think that Thailand can be prosecuted/sued over the manufacture of this medicine. The USA might impose sanctions, but that's about all they can do.
Because Thailand now is ranked no. 10 on the list where press freedom has most deteriorated, I assume they soon will classify the image-boosting campaign as top-secret. (In Thailand).
Read more about the lack of press-freedom here: http://www.cpj.org/backsliders/index.html
Read more about the lack of press-freedom here: http://www.cpj.org/backsliders/index.html
I intend to live forever - so far so good.