Anupong salutes military goodbye
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/secu...litary-goodbye
Anupong salutes military goodbye
Army commander bows out without achieving his goals
- Published: 30/09/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
Gen Anupong Paojinda bids farewell to military life today without any true sense of achievement.
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Anupong: Faced demanding job
His tenure as army commander officially ends when he hands over his duties to Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.
His three-year term in office has seen many security crises and much political turmoil that has tested his mettle right up until his last day.
With bombings continuing to rock Bangkok, Gen Anupong will not be able to put his mind to rest. He was unable to restore order in the country. Violence continues in the lower South and the protracted political crisis across many parts of the rest of the country remains unresolved.
Yesterday, he presided over a farewell ceremony held in his honour at the 11th Infantry Regiment where soldiers from 16 battalions took part in a parade.
The outgoing chief told the assembled troops he was proud to be a part of the army, to serve the country and to protect the monarchy. He pledged his continued commitment to these foremost tasks.
After taking up his post on Oct 1, 2007, Gen Anupong said the army's top priorities would be to find a solution to the southern unrest and to maintain national security. After three years in the job, with the sounds of bombs still echoing in the South and in Bangkok, it is evident that he has been unsuccessful on both fronts.
Gen Anupong mobilised the army's resources and personnel in his attempt to douse the flames of the southern conflict. Troops from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies were enlisted to help.
"Tackling the southern unrest takes time. It cannot be solved by a military approach alone," he said. "I admit the problem has not been solved, but the situation is improving. The rate of violent incidents is declining."
Gen Anupong also tried unsuccessfully to deal with national security issues resulting from political unrest.
He was one of the leading members of the Council for National Security that engineered the Sept 19, 2006, coup to oust prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power.
"At that time, we thought only of stopping the abuse of authority of the then government and the then prime minister," he said.
He never expected that after the coup Thais would become deeply divided by colour-coded politics.
"But I managed to improve it to some extent," he said.
Even though the dispersal of the red shirt protesters on May 19 resulted in many injuries and deaths, Gen Anupong believes most Thais recognise the army's role in keeping order.
With his ability to maintain composure in the face of difficulties, he managed to keep his job through the reign of four prime ministers: Gen Surayud Chulanont, Samak Sundaravej, Somchai Wongsawat and Abhisit Vejjajiva.
He risked losing his job by refusing to comply with the orders of Mr Samak and Mr Somchai to disperse yellow shirt demonstrators, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), after they seized and occupied Government House and Suvarnabhumi airport in 2008.
Gen Anupong also made a concerted attempt to pressure Mr Somchai to resign following the crackdown on PAD demonstrators in front of parliament almost two years ago. His action was described as a coup in disguise.
The army under Gen Anupong was seen to have played an influential role in forming the Democrat Party-led coalition government and it has become a key supporter of the government.
The government is seen to have returned the favour by increasing the defence budget and approving arms purchases, even though some might have been questionable.
All eyes remain on Gen Anupong after his retirement to see whether he will be given a political position in government, in particular the defence portfolio replacing Gen Prawit Wongsuwon.
This is the first of a two-part special report on the change in the army leadership. Tomorrow will focus on Gen Anupong's successor, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.
