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Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, in an address to the nation a day after he was elected prime minister by a legislature he hand-picked, asked Thais not to dwell on the dramatic coup he led in May. "There is no point saying whether a coup is good or whether it is bad," Prayuth said in his Friday night speech. In a rambling, 90-minute speech Prayuth, who is also Thailand's army chief, touched on a number of topics ranging from Thailand's illegal ivory trade to practices of human trafficking in the fishing industry. His election, which still needs to be endorsed by Thailand's king, adds a veneer of legitimacy to a military council, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), that has ruled unchallenged since it took control. It comes at a time when Thailand's economy, which narrowly avoided a technical recession in the second quarter this year, is struggling to get back on its feet after months of sometimes violent street demonstrations.More...