NTGuy

Can anybody tell me how many flag officers (officers holding the rank of general or admiral of any level) there are in the Thai military. Every year the military (including the Royal Thai Police) go through a reshuffle of officers. This is a huge deal with major political implications. But none of the newspaper articles covering it give a definitive number of people covered. Based on various sources it may be over 1000, or 660 for the army alone, or perhaps 150 for the police.

I would like a more accurate report of the total officers affected. Can anyone direct me to an authoritative website with sources cited that will give me the real numbers? I don't want to hear; "Well my gik's brother-in-law told me . . . ." Give me something with some real facts, please!

To say that something wasn't right in this case could have been anything. Most teachers who are fired in Thailand are fired for being lousy teachers, or for having attendence issues, or just being a lush. It is a big jump from "something not right" to being a child molester>

"It should be noted that Mr Clements was dismissed from the school in December 2009. There is absolutely no connection between his dismissal from the school and the criminal charge which he now faces.

They must have had some idea somethig was not right.

This is so obviously an inside job. 6,000 rifles plus explosives is a large amount of gear. It would have required several trucks, plus cargo handlers to remove the weapons. So there are a lot of people out there who know what happened. Plus in any serious army (a designation that may exclude the Thai military) there is a system of tracking what goes into and out of an armory. Where is the paper trail? Where documents faked, or did armory workers and base personnel just look the other way while several truckloads of weapons walked themselves out the door?

One of the more irritating aspects of living in Thailand is the way no one is ever held responsible for anything. The base commander and the head of security at the armory should both be sacked and brought up on charges of dereliction of duty.

Notice that the crackdown was in Phuket Town, rather than Patong Beach, or any of the tourist areas. I am not an expert on Phuket, having only been there once, but If these venues were in Phuket Town they would presumably cater to Thais rather than tourists or ex-pats. Anyone out there know?

I thought that after Eldridge Cleaver died, Black Panthers went extinct!