“The deep political crisis within the Royal Thai Army officer corps”
While Abhisit has argued strongly that parliament must approve the government’s budget before it is dissolved, he also has a strong interest in a smooth annual reshuffle of civilian and uniformed officials. He and his allies need to ensure that people on whom they can rely are in position at the time of the next elections and that they continue to control the security apparatus.
But, on the military side, that reshuffle is an extremely tense matter. Anupong is the key to this delicate transition to an Army commander from Class 12. He in turn requires Prayuth’s guarantee of safety during his retirement from investigation into corruption involving the flawed GT 200 bomb detectors and the multi-million-baht airship that has proved useless in spotting insurgents during actual operations in the Deep South. This factor is central to understanding Anupong’s need to accommodate Prayuth during the present crisis. For his part, and in addition to waiting uneasily for his promotion to Army commander in June or July at the earliest, Prayuth needs to ensure in advance his dominance of the Army during at least the first year of the projected four years that he will spend in that post.
But the forces of alliance between the Queen and Gen Prem alliance suffered the most damaging casualties in the 10 April clash at Dinso Road in front of Satri Withaya School. Promotions have for some time rewarded officers who enjoyed the benevolence of the Queen and Gen Prem, to the dissatisfaction of members of other classes and factions. Bed-ridden senior officers now recovering from injuries sustained on 10 April in the special ward on the twentieth floor of Phramongkut Hospital insist that the black-hooded snipers active that evening were well trained army officers. They were probably former members of Marine SEAL units, the Army’s special warfare unit in Lopburi, and another specially trained secret unit in the Air Force. “They rab job (were paid for a task) to kill us. They did not come to chase us away or to lend the Red Shirts moral support, but to undertake that single mission,” officers wounded on 10 April told this writer. These officers believe that what happened was not the work of a disbanded group of specialist military rangers or tahan pran but rather of more skilled mercenaries.
These gunmen succeeded in causing a serious loss to the Prem-Queen alliance. For they killed a rising star in Queen’s Guard from Prachinburi, Col Romklao Thuwatham, and seriously injured a number of senior officers, including Burapha task force head Maj Gen Walit Rojanapakdi and his colonels. Among the seriously injured soldiers was Lt Col Kriengsak Nanthapotidet, half-brother of the late Lt Col Narongsak, a member of Class 8 and Her Majesty’s favourite aide. Narongsak created and gave fame to the Queen’s Guard unit.But the forces of alliance between the Queen and Gen Prem alliance suffered the most damaging casualties in the 10 April clash at Dinso Road in front of Satri Withaya School. Promotions have for some time rewarded officers who enjoyed the benevolence of the Queen and Gen Prem, to the dissatisfaction of members of other classes and factions. Bed-ridden senior officers now recovering from injuries sustained on 10 April in the special ward on the twentieth floor of Phramongkut Hospital insist that the black-hooded snipers active that evening were well trained army officers. They were probably former members of Marine SEAL units, the Army’s special warfare unit in Lopburi, and another specially trained secret unit in the Air Force. “They rab job (were paid for a task) to kill us. They did not come to chase us away or to lend the Red Shirts moral support, but to undertake that single mission,” officers wounded on 10 April told this writer. These officers believe that what happened was not the work of a disbanded group of specialist military rangers or tahan pran but rather of more skilled mercenaries.
These gunmen succeeded in causing a serious loss to the Prem-Queen alliance. For they killed a rising star in Queen’s Guard from Prachinburi, Col Romklao Thuwatham, and seriously injured a number of senior officers, including Burapha task force head Maj Gen Walit Rojanapakdi and his colonels. Among the seriously injured soldiers was Lt Col Kriengsak Nanthapotidet, half-brother of the late Lt Col Narongsak, a member of Class 8 and Her Majesty’s favourite aide. Narongsak created and gave fame to the Queen’s Guard unit.
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/04/27/the-deep-political-crisis-within-the-royal-thai-army-officer-corps/
