Thread: Are we professional yet?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/o...t-we-have-here


More a professional farce than force that we have here

• Published: 1/07/2010 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News

After attending a seminar on "Security and Military Affairs" at the US-Pacific Command in Hawaii, I have come to understand how far the Thai army is from being a professional force.



President Obama, McChrystal at the White House.


President Barack Obama fired his top Afghan commander, General Stanley McChrystal - I can't imagine that happening in Thailand without it causing a coup! Not only did the US army not flex a muscle or make any noise in lieu of the dismissal, the American media were also generally supportive of the civilian commander-in-chief's decisive act against what they deemed was unprofessional conduct by a military officer. Soldiers are not entitled to comment or criticise their superiors, at least not in the public arena, most commentators said.

Such a scene stands in contrast to the reality in Thailand, where civilian administration and military affairs have been joined at the hip like Siamese twins. The army has played a key role in Thai democracy ever since the 1932 revolution. It has staged more than 20 coups d'etat during the past 78 years. Even now, the military serves as the backbone of the Abhisit government in countering the red shirt movement.

In the Thai context, if an army commander criticises the government or the prime minister, the onus is on the recipient of the disparagement, not the critic. If that happens, it means the government's stability is at stake and the risk of a military coup is high. In Thailand, the civilian leader of the government often acts at the command of the military - pleasing the generals with a higher defence budget and signing off weapons procurement proposals without fuss.

Since the army is the only tool the Abhisit government has against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts, there is no question it has to keep the military happy by setting a longer-term, 5-10 year package deal for weapons procurement or turning a blind eye to such defects as the 350-million-baht airship that failed to float to the required height, or the massive expenditure on the bogus GT-200 bomb-detecting device.

Needless to say, the government is likely to extend the emergency decree for at least 3 more months after its expiration on July 7. Both the government and the army through the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES) need the extra powers granted by the decree to deal with the red shirt leaders and to probe the movement's alleged financiers.

But of course, the CRES has a support system itself. From March 11 to end of May, the CRES has spent more than 3.7 billion baht which has gone into per diem payments for more than 60,000 soldiers, the cost of petrol, food and maintenance and repairs. Even though the forces have been reduced by half, this special per diem - 400 baht per day - still has to be paid.





The reality is that even with the emergency decree in place, the army has not been able to prevent acts of sabotage such as the gas-tank bombing in front of Bhumjaithai Party headquarters or the attack on the army's fuel depot by two rocket-propelled grenades.

As for the US-Thai military relations, Thailand remains a "significant non-Nato ally", with Cobra Gold, the largest military exercise in the region, as the symbol. Next year, the war games will be held in Chiang Mai in February, moved up from the usual slot of April-May, to avoid the heat and Songkran's riotous festivities.

A new development that could be a little unsettling for the Thai army is that the US army will hold its first exercise with the Cambodian army under the code-name "Angkor Sentinel" in Siem Riep and nearby areas soon. Even though the US army took the precaution of choosing an area far from the Thai-Cambodian border as the venue for the exercise, and invited the Thai army as an observer (to avoid pricking sensitive Thai nerves), talk is abuzz within the Thai barracks that the US army is playing safe by maintaining military friendship with both Thailand and Cambodia. Of course the US knows we neighbours have not been on the best of terms politically or militarily. It is worth noting that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has been pushing his son, Brigadier Hun Manet who graduated from West Point, to work on his country's military relations with the US, a move which the Thai army has closely been watching.

Aside from the exercise, one area the US army is concentrating on is developing a joint humanitarian mission with the Thai army. The US-Pacific Air Force has set up the "Human Airlift Relief Response Team" (HARRT) which it claims will be able to offer rescue-and-relief missions to any country in the region within 24 hours.

While there is news that Thaksin's aide, Noppadon Pattama, was sent to Washington to woo its support for the former premier and the red shirts, it is safe to say that military relations between Thailand and the US have stayed on a solid base after the red shirt battle which resulted in 90 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries. For now, the US has no plans to cut any aid. If anything, the superpower is even looking at how to expand cooperation to other areas. When the first female US ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney, replaces the outgoing Eric G John, it is believed she will carry on the positive aspect of the US-Thai diplomatic relations to reaffirm what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her trip here: "The US is back in the region."


Wassana Nanuam reports on military affairs for the Bangkok Post.