Army shouldn’t be turning a profit, Pheu Thai official says

By The Nation

 

Anusorn Iamsa-ard

 

The issues for which the Army is being publicly criticised reflect the inequality in society, the deputy spokesperson of the Pheu Thai Party said on Tuesday (February 18).

 

Anusorn Iamsa-ard said the Army commander’s ambition to evict retired officers from their military-subsidised homes addressed only the tip of the iceberg.

 

What remains unseen to the general public is “a hidden source of benefits”, he said.

 

Social inequality has long allowed for a double standard in law enforcement and such shortcomings extend to the military too, Anusorn said.

 

“The Army should be a non-profit organisation, but it has many businesses – land, television stations, horseracing tracks, golf courses, boxing stadiums,” he said.

 

“There are businesses whose sources of income cannot be identified, which creates suspicion about the legality of all of the Army’s business interests.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30382423

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-19

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7 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

What remains unseen to the general public is “a hidden source of benefits”, he said.

The same for all politicians around the world.

49 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

“There are businesses whose sources of income cannot be identified, which creates suspicion about the legality of all of the Army’s business interests.”

no suspicion at all, well known here that the military will step in whenever it feels it is losing the slightest grip; rewrite the constitution, make all their top dogs rich; talk trash to the poor

hence the many multi million or billionaire generals on  ... gov salaries

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Army shouldn’t be turning a profit, Pheu Thai official says

And then be cheeky to ask for taxpayer money. 

 

Now we know why conscripts are so badly needed.

IMHO forget these corrupt greedy entitled people , it will never change.... instead , focus on air quality , education and the environment....

Separation of state between government, Military and church works every time.

3 hours ago, mok199 said:

IMHO forget these corrupt greedy entitled people , it will never change.... instead , focus on air quality , education and the environment....

Right... and how's that going so far?

On 2/19/2020 at 5:43 PM, snoop1130 said:

“The Army should be a non-profit organisation, but it has many businesses – land, television stations, horseracing tracks, golf courses, boxing stadiums,” he said.

The army should be focused on one thing and one thing only - protecting the country. They should have soldiers who want to be there. Who want to be trained and better themselves and develop a decent career.

 

I grew up in an army town. I had zero interest in joining the army but there were plenty of people in my town who did wanna join. They took it very seriously and did their job with pride. These were the kind of people that if someone asked you if you'd ever wanna have a pint with them, you'd say, "God, no". But if they asked you if these are the kind of people you'd want protecting your country, you'd be like, "Abso f****** lutely". 

 

It reminds me of a time I went to my missus' nephew's Christmas show. I remember seeing two young squaddies helping with moving stuff around and being stagehands, etc. I asked my missus who they were. She said the headmistress of the school was married to someone in the army. She said they're probably from the army camp and have been sent to help. The two young squaddies looked bored out of their brains. This isn't what's meant by the army helping out in local communities. This is abuse of power. 

Edited February 21, 20206 yr by rkidlad

He is spot on. The army receives a huge amount of taxpayers money. If the army turns even 1 Baht of profit that should all be given back to the treasury and taxpayer. If the army can turn a sizable profit from its business dealings, then let it fund itself and cut the cord with the taxpayer. 

 

I suspect there are many rural hospital that would be very grateful for a slice of the army's budget in updating their facilities and medical equipment.