A hit South Korean TV drama about a gun-toting soldier saving lives in a far-away land has won over Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who on Thursday called on Thais to watch the show.
Gen Prayut often has portrayed himself as an officer duty-bound to save the country from years of political chaos, even penning two pop songs and commissioning a series of short films to spread his patriotic message. The protagonist is Descendants of the Sun isn't far off of that.
A drama that is winning over scores of viewers in South Korea, China, Japan and beyond, Descendants tells the story of an army captain sent on a peacekeeping mission to a distant fictional country, battling shady henchmen to save his love interest.
"What I have seen is that they have inserted a sense of patriotism, sacrifice, obeying orders and being a dutiful citizen," he told delegates at a government function on Thursday morning.
"So please watch it and if anyone wants to make such a drama I will financially sponsor it to make people love government officials, uncorrupted officials and make the Thai people love each other," he added.
The drama is part of the so-called hallyu (Korean wave) of TV shows and pop music that has conquered most of Asia and, in recent years, found new, devoted fans in the Middle East, Latin America and North Africa. It has proved particularly popular with Chinese viewers.
Korean dramas normally begin airing before later episodes are filmed to allow for ratings-boosting script adjustments. But the show's producers recorded Descendants of the Sun in its entirety to pass Beijing's strict censorship rules, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
It is a tactic that seems to have worked.
On Saturday, China's public security ministry issued a tongue-in-cheek posting on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, saying thousands of women were suffering from "Song Joong-Ki Sickness" -- a reference to the dashing lead actor.
But Song was Gen Prayut's one criticism of the show who, he described as "very good looking with a boyish look".
"In real life a captain must shoulder a lot of burden and would look older," he mused.