In his first few interactions with the Thais, Serbian Milovan Rajevac got a couple of things right.
Last week, it was the videotaped message to the Thai fans in which he used the words "Su Su Thailand".
And at Friday's ceremony, presided over by Football Association of Thailand president Somyot Poompunmuang, to officially unveil the Serb veteran as the new national team coach, Rajevac's first words to the Thai media were "sawasdee krub".
These utterances must have endeared him to quite a few people.
He also struck the right chord by raising the talk of Thai team's qualification for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
However, Rajevac is a veteran of many years and seems to be well-versed in the art of mixing caution with aggression without spoiling the mood of the party.
"Expectation is very important, but we must understand where are we now," he said on Friday.
"We must work hard in every department. It is good to have a dream and I hope that we will be able to realise our dream soon."
The FAT has promised to give Rajevac a free hand in selecting the national team.
However, there have been a few verbal slip-ups over the past few days, including some by Rajevac himself, which leave clear hints of what is in store.
To start with, FAT technical chief Witthaya Laohakul said on Wednesday that the Serb was in Bangkok last month and watched some Thai League matches.
"He has seen some players who suit his style of play," said Witthaya.
This means that negotiations had been going on with Rajevac for some time and his selection isn't exactly the result of a long screening process as everyone has been given to believe.
In another statement on Thursday, Witthaya said the association would name three Thai assistants to work with Rajevac's team.
"We have enlisted seven possible candidates for the three positions," said Witthaya.
This could in a way suggest that all Rajevac moves would be monitored and that he had better prepare himself for official interference at least to a certain extent.
The Rajevac "style of play" mentioned by Witthaya became obvious when the coach addressed Friday's ceremony.
In what could be seen as a strong clue about his future plans for the Thai national team, the 63-year-old Rajevac said: "My observation is that in the past, the Thai team mainly played attacking game and conceded many goals.
"They should be more defensive. Many teams that I coached hardly conceded goals. I want to develop the players technically but the results must also be good as well."
Rajevac will soon find out that the Thai football players in fact dream of modelling themselves on crafty Brazil and Argentina stars rather than the steadfast Italians.
Moreover, the Thai fans also savour high-paced English football, Brazilian brilliance, French flair and German verve and have never had any real appetite for dour sides which rely heavily on defence.
While Rejevac seems intent on bringing about many changes to the way the national team play, the dust will settle over a lot of things in less than a couple of months' time.
Rajevac's first game as the head coach of the national team will be a friendly with Uzbekistan on June 7 in Tashkent.
Six days later, Thailand will play their eighth Group B match of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with the United Arab Emirates in Bangkok.
After these two matches, everyone will know the direction Thai football will take under the Serb, who has been credited with steering Ghana to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals.
Rajevac will be well advised to go slow and try avoid rocking the apple cart. Thai football has been played in a certain way for a long time so a piecemeal approach is likely to work more effectively than an abrupt transformation.
Rajevac has replaced former national striker Kiatisak Senamuang, who left the job in March, only one month into a new one-year contract, after overseeing a spate of heavy losses in World Cup qualifiers.
The Thais are experiencing another slump as they were recently hammered 3-0 at home by Saudi Arabia and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in Saitama in the 2018 World Cup qualifying round.
The situation brings to mind the English phrase "cometh the hour, cometh the man".
Given the condition of Thai football, there is no doubt in anybody's mind that the hour of need is here. However, whether the Serb coach is the man who holds the key to bringing back some lost esteem and carrying the country to a higher level remains to be seen.