Prayuth made the announcement in a television broadcast after he held a meeting with all rival factions aimed at finding a solution to six months of anti-government protests.
He said the takeover would not affect international relations.
The army later told all television and radio stations in the country on to halt normal programs and only broadcast army material, shortly after it staged a coup to take over the government after months of political turmoil."All radio and television stations, satellite and cable, must stop normal programming and broadcast army content until told otherwise," Winthai Suvaree, a deputy army spokesman, said in a televised statement.Furthermore, Thailand's military imposed a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Thursday after overthrowing a caretaker government in a coup, an army spokesman said.