Thailand’s junta chief Thursday said the military is keeping such a close eye on ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that she would be unable to eat a bowl of noodles without their permission.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army general, was justifying the decision to have soldiers search a convoy taking Yingluck to a ceremony for her ancestors in her northern hometown of Chiangmai earlier in the week.
The following day she was pictured eating noodles in the town, a political stronghold of her wealthy but wildly divisive family.
“If she wants to go to eat noodles then she can go but if we prohibit her then she cannot go,” Prayut told reporters Thursday, indicating the military would continue to monitor her movements.
He said the military’s decision to halt Yingluck’s convoy was part of providing security for the former premier at a turbulent time.