Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the spokesman for the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), has seen his photos splashed across magazines and newspapers throughout the week. His popularity rivals that of a superstar.
Many Internet users have joined Sansern fan clubs, starting pages dedicated to him in various social media. They said his charm lies in his smile, voice and communication skills. One recent Internet popularity poll even rated him higher than heartthrob actor Ken Thiradej among female netizens.
Sansern, 46, said it could have something to do with his nightly prime-time appearances on TV for CRES press conferences over the past two months during the political turmoil.
He does not go on TV as much these days but his appeal is still growing. His fans set up groups of admirers on websites like Facebook and Twitter. Popular local web boards on Pantip.com also talked about this Army officer nicknamed "Kai Ou".
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has his own fan clubs in cyberspace, recently sent Sansern an SMS to let him know about new groups of admirers forming online.
Among the Facebook groups dedicated to Sansern is one proclaiming "We like Kai Ou because he appears on TV every two hours". It has gathered more than 14,000 followers.
Another group with 9,860 followers, whose leaders noticed the dark bags under Sansern's weary eyes, offered to send him some eye cream.
The group that professes confidence that Thais around the world want to offer moral support to Sansern has 9,108 members.
Another Facebook group that wants Sansern promoted to major-general has attracted 1,255 like-minded people.
The latest group, www.facebook.com/kaiou23, now has 3,687 friends.
Sansern's enthusiasts, most of them women, say they like his light-hearted character and believe he was born to be a spokesman. Some of his fan-club members have met him in person when his schedule became less busy following the pause in the political turmoil.
"Pimorn" says she first saw Sansern on TV briefing the mass media alongside acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. She found that while Panitan was calm and stern-faced, uncharacteristic of a spokesman, Sansern was talkative and friendly-looking, the qualities of a good spokesman. He had the same personality even when meeting his followers.
She says she has enlisted in almost all the Facebook groups devoted to supporting the Army spokesman. "Applying is easy. I just click the mouse and become a member."
"Noravit Boom", a marketing expert, says she likes the way he performs his spokesman's job. Unlike men in uniform making announcements on TV during a time of political crisis, Sansern looks much more sociable and did not make his viewers feel they were ordered to listen to him. "He never said, 'Please listen again'," she says.
As someone in the marketing field, she views Sansern as a potentially popular brand. The government should use him as a presenter in a campaigns promoting social reconciliation, she adds.