THE IMPACT OF INTERVIEW CONTENTS AND STYLES OF GENERAL PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA ON THE PERSONAL BRAND IMAGE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THAILAND

Abstract

This research is a survey research to find out how the communication style of General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Prime Minister of Thailand affected his personal brand image Survey research. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 400 people who participated in the rally protesting the corrupt ex-government. The findings revealed that the respondents had low need for communication; they did not pay much attention to his interviews with the press. They perceived his communication style to be aggressive, ill-tempered, and insensitive to the press and the audiences. Nonetheless, they did not mind his communication style, and perceived it to be the manifestation of his sincerity and truthfulness. Moreover, they thought that the press in Thailand who often asked aggressive political questions deserved this particular style. Only few of the respondents would like him to change his communication style to be more polite and less aggressive. However, it was obvious that no matter how the respondents perceived the Prime Minister’s communication style, they were confident in his premiership of Thailand’s junta administration, and wanted him to be the Prime Minister of Thailand after a general democratic election planned to be held in May 2019.