Thailand will advance with a balance between politicians' greed and people's needs, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the Bangkok Post Forum 2016 on "Moving Thailand Forward" on Wednesday.
"I have been listening to the political parties, but I have never heard any of them mentioning what they are going to do for the people. I'm working to make the right balance between politicians' demands and what this country truly deserves," Gen Prayut told some 500 business leaders, policymakers, diplomats and representatives from the civil sector at Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok Hotel.
"They [politicians] keep talking about the next election and how democratic its process is," he said.
For Thailand's future, the prime minister wanted to see convenient transport between Bangkok and remote areas. He was referring to better train services that would be affordable to the poor.
Another of his visions for Thailand was freedom from its middle-income trap by 2036.
Regarding his broad power under Section 44 of the interim constitution, Gen Prayut assured he would exercise it only to stabilise political situations and maintain national order. He promised not to mistreat anyone or infringe on human rights.
"My special power is to maintain security, not violating anyone's human rights like some organisations are criticising me for," he said.
Better public education was another goal towards which Thailand was moving, Gen Prayut said.
Wi-fi spots across the country were put on the agenda with the aim of expanding online classrooms for Thai children and deal with teacher shortages, he said.
During his two-hour address, Gen Prayut assured that his government would stay in office for another year and the next election would happen as planned.