Thai army to transfer control of land after mass shooting

[webfact]

Thai army to transfer control of land after mass shooting

 

FILE PHOTO: Family members and Police officers ride with coffins containing bodies of SWAT members Trakool Tha-arsa and Petcharat Kamjadpai, who were killed in a mass shooting at the Terminal 21 shopping mall, at a military airport in Bangkok, Thailand, February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's army agreed on Monday to transfer management control of 160,000 hectares of commercial land to the finance ministry in a drive to reform its business practices after a soldier went on a shooting spree over a property deal gone sour.

 

Sergeant Major Jakrapanth Thomma killed 29 people and wounded 57 during a 19-hour rampage last week after he shot his commanding officer and relative in a business dispute. The 32-year-old soldier was then shot dead.

 

The incident cast a spotlight on the questionable involvement of soldiers in the army's commercial activities, in a country that has just emerged from direct military rule.

 

Army Chief General Apirat Kongsompong has vowed a major cleanup of the army's business activities, which generate an annual income of nearly one billion baht (£24.64 million or $32 million). They include golf courses, boxing arenas, horse racecourses, sports clubs, hotels and petrol stations.

 

"From now on the army will hand over various projects to the Treasury Department to consider how to proceed, based on its laws and regulations," said General Teerawat Boonyawat, Chief of Staff of the army.

 

The transfer means the businesses' revenues will go directly to the state. Some of the earnings will go towards the welfare of army personnel.

 

"I cannot yet say how much profit the army businesses generate because we have to work on it," said Prasong Poontaneat, Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry.

 

"We will bring on board professionals to make these businesses beneficial to soldiers' welfare and improve transparency," he said.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-18

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[Emdog]

Wow.... hard to wrap head around this....

"We will bring on board professionals to make these businesses beneficial to soldiers' welfare and improve transparency,"

Uh, no suggestion that property and businesses ought to be beneficial to the Thai people? Never crossed minds?

"....annual income of nearly one billion baht (£24.64 million or $32 million). They include golf courses, boxing arenas, horse racecourses, sports clubs, hotels and petrol stations."

 Vital to defense of country, maybe even more than submarines

[Artisi]

"the army's commercial activities" 

Says it all, doesn't it? 

[colinneil]

Commercial activities?

I always thought that the army was there to protect the country, clearly i was wrong.

Now we know why this country has so many generals, they are needed to oversee all the businesses.

There should be no commercial activities going on at all.

[MaxLee]

In other words, business as usual, only in other hands from inactive posts to inactive posts

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

We will bring on board professionals

General professionals

[Redline]

And whoever they transfer them to, will do the same thing ????

[newcomer71]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

involvement of soldiers in the army's commercial activities

commercial activities... Army...

Well, I think that there's not much more to say here.

It's just sick. And they talk about it with a straight face.

[ParkerN]

Until all the fuss dies down (about a couple of weeks), then it'll be back to business as usual. It's a tried and tes=ted routine, works every time because Thais have a short span of attention and foreigners (who are , in the main, brighter and more savvy) are completely ignored, despite the copious amounts of money they bring to Thailand. Most foreigners don't earn 300 THB a day (250THB in Isaan).

 

Thailand is run by the wealthy and the armed forces. That's the way it is, it's been that way for centuries and it isn't going to change any time soon, sans a civil war, which won't happen, because trying to persuade all but a very few Thais to get off their bottoms and do something useful is an exercise in futility. 3rd world country, 3rd world population, just like your average central American or African banana republic, the Thai public is under-intelligent and propagandised to the gunwales. The people who did it, did it for a reason and they were well taught by the Americans who wished to retain a foothold in SE Asia after getting their bottoms kicked in (or rather, out of) Vietnam. Did it stop their amateurish adventurism? Nope, they're still at it. No shame.

 

Bottom line: try to love the way Thailand is 'cos it isn't going to change. Too many people got too much to lose if it does. Corruption is a way of life in Thailand, and the Army and police are right up there in the vanguard. Nothing's going to change but there's a few charades they can be counted on to act out while trying to convey the entirely false impression that things can change. And who's in charge overall? Not a big secret.

 

[CGW]

19 minutes ago, ParkerN said:

Bottom line: try to love the way Thailand is 'cos it isn't going to change. Too many people got too much to lose if it does. Corruption is a way of life in Thailand, and the Army and police are right up there in the vanguard. Nothing's going to change but there's a few charades they can be counted on to act out while trying to convey the entirely false impression that things can change. And who's in charge overall? Not a big secret.

Thats just the way it is, from a western perspective it's plain wrong, but that's the way its always been here, next time they are called upon for yet another coup, sure they will be rewarded with further riches for keeping the "Elites" in power!

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Commercial activities?

I always thought that the army was there to protect the country, clearly i was wrong.

Now we know why this country has so many generals, they are needed to oversee all the businesses.

There should be no commercial activities going on at all.

Maybe beer and cigs in the mess hall

 

[spidermike007]

I read a study some years ago, that indicated that the army was the largest land owner in the nation, at just over 12 million rai. Business? Yes, I would say so. Quite a lucrative organization. 

[Creasy]

Crooks in green.

Crooks in brown.

Crooks in yellow.

[ThaiBunny]

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

that indicated that the army was the largest land owner in the nation

Not quite, and certainly not in Bangkok where it matters

[ParkerN]

3 hours ago, Emdog said:

Wow.... hard to wrap head around this....

"We will bring on board professionals to make these businesses beneficial to soldiers' welfare and improve transparency,"

Uh, no suggestion that property and businesses ought to be beneficial to the Thai people? Never crossed minds?

"....annual income of nearly one billion baht (£24.64 million or $32 million). They include golf courses, boxing arenas, horse racecourses, sports clubs, hotels and petrol stations."

 Vital to defense of country, maybe even more than submarines

Cui Bono. Follow the money. Definitely perceived as being vital to the defence of the country...

 

Whether or not that is true is a moot point. Power can be defined as the number of people who will do what you tell them to do. So, cui bono?

[Misterwhisper]

When I must read that the military forces of a country own and operate a long list of business including hotels and golf courses, I finally come to comprehend that I am living in a banana republic, not a nation that claims to be part of the 21st century. 

[Scott Tracy]

How is it allowed to 'own' land? Surely it's state land reserved for army use?

 

If not, it should be.

[Artisi]

The little general should watch out, seems someone (with an eye on the top job) is suggesting remedial actions that should have been attended to and put into motion much earlier. 

[KKr]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

which generate an annual income of nearly one billion baht (£24.64 million or $32 million).

that is maybe what is reported to the tax authority,
but to me it seems to be peanuts for such a big business with so many outlets and access to cheap labor. 

[KKr]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I read a study some years ago, that indicated that the army was the largest land owner in the nation, at just over 12 million rai. Business? Yes, I would say so. Quite a lucrative organization. 

rented out at say 100 B/annum makes 1,200,000,000 = about the proclaimed Annual revenue  
So the revenue number is realistic, and I stand corrected.

[djayz]

8 hours ago, Emdog said:

no suggestion that property and businesses ought to be beneficial to the Thai people

Why share with the peasants when you can keep it for yourself, your family and your friends?

 

This is not a country where the benefit of the whole nation is more important than a few holding on to everything. 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, KKr said:

rented out at say 100 B/annum makes 1,200,000,000 = about the proclaimed Annual revenue  
So the revenue number is realistic, and I stand corrected.

100 baht per year per rai? Where is this land and can I lease 1000 rai tomorrow?

[mok199]

This nation is so tangled up in its own greed and entitlement , how can anything ever change..

[briansbiology]

"in a country that has just emerged from direct military rule."

Oh my, when did that happen????

[Jip99]

1 minute ago, briansbiology said:

"in a country that has just emerged from direct military rule."

Oh my, when did that happen????

 

You really should keep up with Thailand news developments

[mikebell]

And it only took the deaths of thirty people to achieve this.  If it doesn't last, they will have died in vain.

[briansbiology]

On 2/19/2020 at 7:41 AM, Jip99 said:

 

You really should keep up with Thailand news developments

you should have written "You really should keep up with Thailand propaganda developments"