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The new government is looking to “co-develop” the military, as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin puts it. Srettha refused to use the word “reform” since the reformation of the military was one of the Move Forward Party’s main election pledges.
The new Defense Minister, Suthin Klangsaeng, is the sixth civilian to hold the post, and he is now in charge of this development. One of the main differences is that the five previous civilian Defense Ministers also served as Prime Ministers, including Seni Pramoj, Chuan Leekpai, Somchai Wongsawat, Samak Sundaravej, and Yingluck Shinawatra.
To help with his adjustment in closely working with military top brass, Suthin has sought advice from his predecessor, Gen Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya, who held the position during the Thaksin administration, and he promised to assist Suthin in any way he can.
He also invited Gen Nipat Thonglek, a former Permanent Secretary for Defense, to be his assistant, and Nipat, who is currently an adviser to Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, has accepted Suthin’s invitation.
Today, Suthin met with Former Defense Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat, who served during the Yingluck administration, to seek advice on his new position as well. He is also planning to meet with Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Gen. Chetta Thanajaro, as well as defense experts such as Surachart Bamrungsuk at the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University.
Apart from meetings with his predecessors and trusted advisers, Suthin and Srettha also met with three out of four current military chiefs who were appointed by former Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. The appointment of the four military chiefs and 758 other officers who were royally endorsed on August 30, just before the new cabinet members were endorsed on September 2, was one of his last official acts before stepping down.
The four new military chiefs include Supreme Commander Gen Songwit Noonpakdee, Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Charoenchai Hinthao, Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Punpakdee Pattanakul, and Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Adung Pan-iam. (pic from left to right)
With Srettha using the word “co-development” instead of “reform,” Suthin’s lack of experience, these appointments by Prayut, the 2014 coup leader’s attempt to install his close aide Gen Natthapol Nakpanich as the Defense Minister before he was replaced by Suthin due to criticism from some Red Shirts groups, and the inclusion of junta-backed parties in the new government, not many people believe that the new government will be able to keep the promise of reforming the military.
However, Suthin said yesterday after meeting with the military top brass that the replacement of mandatory military conscription with a voluntary one, a key election promise of the Pheu Thai Party, will commence at the next round of conscription in April.
He also said the number of people being conscripted will start to reduce in the next round and will gradually decrease until it is fully replaced by a voluntary system. He did not specify the timeline.
Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said earlier this year that the military needs about 100,000 new recruits, or one-fifth of the army’s size, each year to fill various posts. After 10 weeks of basic training, about 30,000 conscripts will be sent to fill seven border defense units, including the conflict zone in the southern border and the hot zones at the Myanmar border. The rest of the conscripts are sent to various units of the three armed forces: army, navy, and air force.
Gen Kongcheep also said that the number of people volunteering to join the military has been increasing in recent years, from about 20% to 35-40% currently. During conscription season this year, a total of 35,617 people, or 38% of the quota, have joined voluntarily.
Regarding the reduction of the army size, Suthin said the military is already planning to lower the number of soldiers, and many general positions will be reduced. However, he did not disclose the exact reduction percentage.
Currently, the army has around 1,200 generals, and the plan is to cut the number down to 600 by 2027, as Col. Jittanat Punnotok said on May 31. Another plan is to reduce the number of conscripts to 90,000 per year.
Other plans that were announced include:
– Reducing the number of paramilitary personnel in the southern border by 1,656.
– Reducing the number of military personnel by 4,000 by 2027. 8,000 personnel were already cut between 2017 and 2021, which helped save around 1.5 billion baht in terms of the budget.
Other main reform issues introduced by the Move Forward Party and Pheu Thai Party during their election campaign, such as reducing the budget for purchasing weapons and the dissolution of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), are currently being sidelined. Srettha said that the new government has not yet discussed the budget issue with the military, and the government will examine the military’s involvement beyond stability and security fields, including the functions of ISOC, at a later time.
Both Srettha and Sutin also avoided answering questions about the controversial purchases of Chinese submarines today, stating that they will discuss this issue with the navy first. The Defense Minister said he will provide more details about their plan at a later date, possibly after the cabinet members have been sworn in on September 5 or after the announcement of their policies in parliament on September 11.
In 2017, Thailand entered into an agreement to purchase an S26T Yuan-class submarine from the state-owned China Shipbuilding & Offshore International (CSOC) for 13.5 billion baht. The delivery of the submarine was initially expected for this year. However, the deal faced a setback when Germany’s Motor and Turbine Union (MTU) declared that they would not supply their MTU396 diesel engines to CSOC for installation in the Thai submarine. This decision was influenced by the European Union’s arms embargo on China.
In response to this challenge, CSOC proposed using the Chinese-made CHD620 engine as an alternative for the submarine. The Thai navy, in considering whether to proceed with or cancel the contract, has outlined three conditions:
– Certification by the Chinese navy of the CHD620 engine.
– Assurance of the engine’s safety.
– Provision of compensation in case of construction delays.
The Chinese navy has agreed to these terms, and the decision on whether to move forward with the submarine purchase will ultimately be determined by the Thai navy and the new government.
Suthin said possible solutions have been considered. When asked whether the new government and the navy would accept the Chinese-made engine instead of the German-made engine or not, he said they were still studying it.
He also said that other options are being explored, but he would not confirm if the alternative would be a submarine from another country such as South Korea or Germany.
When asked about the 7 billion baht deposit, Suthin did not provide any answers. When asked if the deal with China would be canceled or not, he stated that the decision has not been made yet. When asked if the negotiator in the next round will be a representative from the new government or not, he said they are still considering it.