Before going to take oath of office at Dusit Royal Palace on September 5, Prime Minister Srettha arrived at Government House in his new Lexus LM 350h Executive saloon, causing many to wonder whether he will use it as his official vehicle.

Some went further, claiming that Srettha wanted to use the Lexus as his official vehicle, because he did not want to have the same vehicle as his predecessor Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. The subject of Srettha’s transport has been widely debated on Thai social media.

The following day, however, the media at Government House reported that officials had brought a specially equipped Mercedes-Benz to the front entrance and Srettha was seen getting into the back seat of the German vehicle and then getting back out again.

An informed source said that the new prime minister, who is 192cm tall, wanted to make sure that the vehicle would be comfortable for someone of his size. Srettha is the second tallest leader of the world.

Srettha later told reporters that he found it pleasant sitting in the bullet-proof limousine, saying “Yes, I will use it as my official vehicle. It’s good, no need to buy a new one.”

In 2016, the PM’s Secretariat Office purchased four armoured Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard sedans for a total of Bt78 million. Two of them are for the government’s official guests and the others are for the country’s prime minister.

The S600 Guard that Srettha will use from now on is the same model used by Prayut, but not the same vehicle. The first two letters of the registration plates of Prayut’s and Srettha’s are different, but they share the same number, which is 29.

Prayut chose the number because he was the 29th prime minister of Thailand while Srettha is the 30th premier. He maybe he wanted to change the number to 30.

Marisa Chimprabha