Mass shooting puts Thai army officers' side deals under scrutiny

[snoop1130]

Mass shooting puts Thai army officers' side deals under scrutiny

By Panu Wongcha-um

 

FILE PHOTO: Thai army chief Apirat Kongsompong speaks during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand, following last weekend's shooting rampage by a soldier at a mall in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

 

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (Reuters) - A Thai soldier’s killing of 29 people in a rage over a housing deal involving his superior officer has brought attention to the business dealings of army personnel in a country that just emerged from direct military rule.

 

Thailand’s army chief has promised to investigate and also acknowledged a wider problem of inappropriate business deals involving army officers and their subordinates, vowing to root out the practise.

 

The military, which staged its latest coups 2006 and 2014, wields extraordinary power in Thailand and proclaims its discipline to justify repeatedly overthrowing elected governments, but the killings on the weekend put a spotlight on some of its own members’ questionable dealings.

 

Sergeant Major Jakrapanth Thomma was meeting on Saturday with his commanding officer and the officer’s mother-in-law to discuss their dispute when he opened fire, killing both of them. He then drove to his army camp, a Buddhist temple and a shopping mall, gunning people down until security forces killed him on Sunday morning.

 

Hours before, Jakrapanth had posted on Facebook denouncing people who cheated others to become wealthy.

 

“Do they think they can spend the money in hell?” Jakrapanth asked.

 

The military has a long tradition of involvement in business and it has been an open secret that some officers branch out into private business deals.

 

“It is actually quite common for senior military officers to be involved in real estate, especially in Thailand’s rural areas,” said Paul Chambers, a politics expert at Naresuan University in northern Thailand.

 

The military is one of the largest land-holders in some provinces, controlling vast bases that also can be mini-cities unto themselves.

 

“Many officers tend to want to supplement their meagre salaries with money they can easily make through military power regarding real estate,” Chambers said.

 

Military discipline is regularly extolled by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who launched the last coup in 2014 and last year retained power by leading a pro-army party to victory in an election opposition parties said was engineered to cement army influence.

 

One prominent opposition group, the Future Forward Party, has openly opposed military influence over politics, arguing for changes in the military-written constitution, an end to conscription and cutting the army budget.

 

‘INJUSTICE’

 

Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong has said he will set up a direct line for soldiers who feel they are being exploited by superior officers.

 

“The cause and reason for the perpetrator in this incident were the injustice he received from his commanding officer and relatives,” Apirat said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

 

He also acknowledged wider reports of officers exploiting a system of military housing loans and welfare schemes for personal gain.

 

“There are cooperation between units and private contractor that lobby for deals,” Apirat said

 

“I know about this and I want to assure that in the next three months some generals and colonels will lose their jobs,” he said.

 

Details of the deal that enraged Jakrapanth are not clear, but it appears to have involved his purchase of a house, brokered by the mother-in-law of his commanding officer, Colonel Anantharot Krasae.

 

Police told Reuters that Jakrapanth argued he was owed 50,000 baht ($1,600) by the mother-in-law, whose husband said she had already given the money to an agent who failed to pass it on to the soldier. Members of the family did not respond to messages from Reuters.

 

However, lawyer Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, said the dispute may have been over a larger amount – 375,000 baht ($12,000) - and said he has been approached since the shooting by 20 other members of Jakrapanth’s unit complaining about the same scheme.

 

“Apart from this group, I have been informed that there are hundreds of other soldiers who are scammed in a similar situation,” said Atchariya.

 

‘CLOSED KINGDOM’

 

Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit acknowledged reports of officers profiting from sweetheart deals but said the issue was endemic in society.

 

“All this is an ongoing problem that not just the army but also the government faces,” Kongcheep said.

 

But the military has a lack of transparency beyond other institutions that makes it easier to exploit the system, said Anusorn Unno, a lecturer at Thammasat University.

 

“The army is like a closed kingdom,” Anusorn said.

 

“Those with higher ranks have the advantage in doing business within this closed system.”

 

The Bangkok Post said in an editorial that questionable personal deals were “the tip of the iceberg” and argued the military budget should be subject to independent audits, instead of the internal ones established by the last ruling junta.

 

“Without allowing greater external audits, the army risks harbouring more and more shady operations.”

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-12

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[YetAnother]

6 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand’s army chief has promised to investigate and also acknowledged a wider problem of inappropriate business deals involving army officers and their subordinates, vowing to root out the practise.

BS; he just recently called the thai military 'sacred'; all just press PR in the land of show

[Yadon Toploy]

That article should be required reading for all the idiots that supported the coup.

[tifino]

... and it means Everyone... - No General amnesty

[snoop1130]

Army chief seeks end to military business deals

By The Nation

 

Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong

 

Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong announced on Tuesday (February 11) that military personnel would be unloading some of their private business interests within three months.

 

The remarkable pledge came as he was apologising for Saturday’s killing spree in which an Army sergeant-major apparently upset over an internal business deal gone wrong shot dead 30 people in downtown Nakhon Ratchasima and wounded 58 others.

 

Apirat extended condolences to the relatives of the people killed and to the injured, promising financial compensation and jobs in the military for their offspring.

 

He acknowledged that the Army had long been involved in various business that enable enlisted men to purchase homes at low cost, but said that would now end.

 

“In three months, officers from general’s to colonel’s rank will definitely not have outside jobs and I don’t care, because I know what can go wrong,” he said. “This is the start to resolving the long-standing problems in the Army.”

 

Apirat said he had cancelled the planned purchases of “welfare guns” – presumably sold to lower ranks at a discount – and senior officers would henceforth have to arrange such purchases through the Army chief of staff.

 

He’s also letting officers live rent-free in their military-assigned homes for decades so they can save money to buy a house of their own after they retire and he wants retired officers to vacate their homes to make way for serving officers who don’t have one.

 

“I will continue making improvements until my last day as Army chief and I have confidence that the next commander will do the same,” Apirat said.

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has separately appointed officials to investigate the allocation of land to build houses for sale to military personnel.

 

“This is a great lesson – that all parties must improve to make sure incident like this do not occur again in the future, especially imitative behaviour prompted by websites or social media,” Prayut said.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30382038

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-12

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[steven100]

I'll bet they pay the broker fees next time around

[trainman34014]

Truth is that so called 'Management' in every Government sector are up to their eyes in private deals and have little or no time to 'Manage' the job they are paid for.

 

My Wife was a Nurse for 25 years and says her 'Bosses' were rarely in their offices but out running private business ventures for the majority of their so called 'working hours' and the only time they would appear would be when a member of a certain family was coming on some official visit or when they wanted to seduce the Nursing Minnion's into some 'lucrative deal' they were involved in and needed extra cash, which 90% of the time was never paid back, let alone the interest they were promised.

 

This country really does need a big shake up and some hard kicks in the nuts !

[sammieuk1]

The issue was endemic in society.

 

Not any other society I know mainly due to accountability ???? 

[Lungstib]

An unprofessional institution whose members have so little to do they look for work on the outside. A total restructuring reducing the numbers of officers commensurate with a country the size of Thailand and taking into account ASEAN'S political situation is the proper way to go. Which of course will never get done.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Lungstib

[trainman34014]

All the things he's now gonna do should already have been done before; so he should fall on his sword should he not as he has failed miserably at his job ?

[Just1Voice]

Why is that Apirat ALWAYS looks like he is ready to cry?

[rkidlad]

51 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I'll bet they pay the broker fees next time around

But what about the guys at the very top who are doing this sort of thing? The further up you go the more illicit money is involved.

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by rkidlad

[Somewhere In Time]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

“I know about this and I want to assure that in the next three months some generals and colonels will lose their jobs,” he said.

All well and good. 

 

An assurance that those found malcontent will be gone in the next few days vice months would resonate much louder; a more resolute finality to a most unfortunate situation!

 

SIT

[BobbyL]

1 hour ago, YetAnother said:

BS; he just recently called the thai military 'sacred'; all just press PR in the land of show

Exactly. Is anyone going to investigate his finances? I highly doubt it seeing as how 'connected' he is with the upper echelon of Thailand. 

[legend49]

A well written article. If only all the promises of change were genuine and effective.

[colinneil]

I feel this is just another knee jerk reaction, few weeks from now, when things have quietened down, carry on boys with your scams, nobodies looking.

[klauskunkel]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“The army is like a closed kingdom,” Anusorn said.

shouldn't really matter, because the army is "transparent" 

Quote

The NACC recently named the army the country’s most transparent agency under its Integrity and Transparency Assessment.

maybe the NACC should have named itself as the country's most transparent agency, with the army coming in a close second... 

[RichardColeman]

 

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

brought attention to the business dealings of army personnel in a country that just emerged from direct military rule

I must have missed that

[Odysseus123]

It is quite telling that in this day and age the Thai army is on a par with the late Roman Army of the 4th and 5th centuries AD.

 

For this is how the Roman army managed after the central finances of the Empire had all but collapsed..

1.Enforced conscription of the poor and slaves.

2.engagement in commerce and trades to make a living

3.Low pay and many deductions.

4.Draconian discipline in order to keep the disaffected in line.

5.High rate of desertion.

6.An officer class mainly interested in doing political deals and planning military coups.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Odysseus123

[Assurancetourix]

12 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

This country really does need a big shake up and some hard kicks in the nuts !

 

 

I don't want to move the knife too hard in the wound ..
Corruption has been endemic in Thailand for hundreds of years; let us not forget that the thais are chinese among whom corruption is born.
BUT since the USA decided to make Thailand its base in the Asian SE and especially since the war against Vietnam, things have gotten much worse.
Difficult, very difficult to talk about what has happened in this country for 50 years; but the CIA has done immense harm to the Thai people by allowing its elites to corrupt themselves enormously and this with impunity.
Those who, like me, have studied American politics in SE Asia a little or a little more, know but cannot of course talk about it on TV.

 

The best and only effective way would be for the US to completely withdraw from Thailand; forget this country; removing billions of dollars donated each year to whom you know and to the military;
abolition of so-called secret CIA prisons; there is one in Udon Thani province not far from Ban Dung ...
And yes, everything comes to know ...
and removal of economic benefits, reduced taxes when they are not simply removed;
And a brutal STOP regarding slavery institutionalized in everything related to fishing and canning ...
If Trump really wanted to kick this rotting anthill he would be in a position to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

I stop dreaming; money goes to money .. and it’s not tomorrow the day before a political leader will have the balls to say STOP

[ronaldo0]

I foresee a lot of wife's and kids suddenly becoming major share holders in land and property ! ????

[Dumbastheycome]

41 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

I foresee a lot of wife's and kids suddenly becoming major share holders in land and property ! ????

"Unloading" could/should be  defined as moving sideways, not  divesting !

 

[Marknreston]

Here’s another example of rampant corruption in the military. My friends brother was in the Army.  He was frequently sent home by his commanding officer so the officer did not have to pay him.  The commander kept this kids salary.  Apparently schemes like this are common.  I was. Dumbfounded this occurred so openly.  

Edited February 13, 2020 by Marknreston

[Asernume]

9 minutes ago, Marknreston said:

Here’s another example of rampant corruption in the military. My friends brother was in the Army.  He was frequently sent home by his commanding officer so the officer did not have to pay him.  The commander kept this kids salary.  Apparently schemes like this are common.  I was. Dumbfounded this occurred so openly.  

It is also not uncommon for Thais doing their military service to be working at the personal business of their commanding officer (say a gas station for example) instead of actually doing their military service, all this paid by the tax payer.

[yellowboat]

Thai army is more of a problem than any sort of solution.  Peace at any price is far too expensive.  The code of conduct is lacking with too many generals and conscripts.  Crony-ism is just like a bad rash in Thailand. 

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

 

 

I don't want to move the knife too hard in the wound ..
Corruption has been endemic in Thailand for hundreds of years; let us not forget that the thais are chinese among whom corruption is born.
BUT since the USA decided to make Thailand its base in the Asian SE and especially since the war against Vietnam, things have gotten much worse.
Difficult, very difficult to talk about what has happened in this country for 50 years; but the CIA has done immense harm to the Thai people by allowing its elites to corrupt themselves enormously and this with impunity.
Those who, like me, have studied American politics in SE Asia a little or a little more, know but cannot of course talk about it on TV.

 

The best and only effective way would be for the US to completely withdraw from Thailand; forget this country; removing billions of dollars donated each year to whom you know and to the military;
abolition of so-called secret CIA prisons; there is one in Udon Thani province not far from Ban Dung ...
And yes, everything comes to know ...
and removal of economic benefits, reduced taxes when they are not simply removed;
And a brutal STOP regarding slavery institutionalized in everything related to fishing and canning ...
If Trump really wanted to kick this rotting anthill he would be in a position to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

I stop dreaming; money goes to money .. and it’s not tomorrow the day before a political leader will have the balls to say STOP

 

So you are saying:

 

- corruption is linked to ethnicity

- Thai corruption is the fault of the CIA

- Corruption would be diminished if the CIA and US moved out of Asia.

 

Okay ......................................................... ????

[Proboscis]

Does this mean that the Thai Military will also unload its many business interests, including a bank?

[justin case]

investigate this : 2000 generals with (hundreds of) millions on their account on a government salary

[ronaldo0]

1 hour ago, Asernume said:

It is also not uncommon for Thais doing their military service to be working at the personal business of their commanding officer (say a gas station for example) instead of actually doing their military service, all this paid by the tax payer.

My nephew gets sent out every so often to work at his bosses mothers house . He keeps the outside area tidy , cuts the grass , cleans the cars and drives the mother to where she needs to go. They are minted and last guy they had doing similar they bought him a brand new Honda CR-V as a thank you and his career moved upwards quickly. I told the nephew I want a bmw when he’s minted ????

[Expat Brad]

And yes! as he said corruption is not just limited to the army!!!

The corruption in this country comes from the top down and has been engrained into Thai societal values for more than 2000 years.