Military Reform in Progress

[webfact]

 

BANGKOK, June 1 (TNA) – The Defence Council has acknowledged progress of a reform plan for the armed forces to reduce the budget and the personnel, said Col Jittanat Punnotok  a deputy spokesman for the Defence Ministry.

The reform plan is aimed to enhance efficiency through streamlining and modernizing. For example, under the plan, reinforcements of the 7th Infantry Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division will be scrapped and the number of paramilitary personnel in the three southern border provinces will be cut by 1,656, which can save the budget of 600 million baht. The number of generals would be cut by half in 2027, the deputy spokesman said.

The armed forces had already reduced the number of military personnel by 8,000 from 2017- 2021, with the savings of 1.5 billion baht. By 2027, more 12,000 personnel will be reduced, which will help save 2.9 billion baht.

 

Full story: https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-1182317

 

-- © Copyright Thai News Agency 2023-06-01

 

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[webfact]

Thai armed forces plan to halve generals, save billions by 2027
by Mitch Connor
 

Photo via Facebook

 

Thailand‘s Defence Council has recently given the green light to a reform plan that aims to reduce the number of generals in the armed forces by 50% by 2027, as stated yesterday by Deputy Defence Ministry Spokesperson, Colonel Jittanat Punnotok. Currently, there are approximately 1,200 generals in the military, a military source told Bangkok Post.

 

Between 2017 and 2021, the armed forces managed to decrease the number of military personnel by over 8,000, resulting in savings of around 1.5 billion baht. With the proposed reduction to about 600 generals by 2027, the estimated savings are expected to reach 2.9 billion baht, according to the source.

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also serves as defence minister, has emphasised that these reforms were planned long before and are not connected to any new government’s intention to seek armed forces reform.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-armed-forces-plan-to-halve-generals-save-billions-by-2027

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-06-01

 

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[nikmar]

18 minutes ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also serves as defence minister, has emphasised that these reforms were planned long before and are not connected to any new government’s intention to seek armed forces reform.

of course!! never doubted for a minute!!

[daveAustin]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

reduce the number of generals in the armed forces by 50%

If you got rid of 99%, 12 left would still be too many, surely.

[sammieuk1]

Far to many helmets will still be left unfortunately ???? 

[anchadian]

(1/2) MF spokesman Rangsiman Rome congratulates the Defence Ministry for revealing yest it has its own plan to reform the armed forces by reducing the # of generals by 50%, reduce the number of officers by 12,000 as well as ending compulsory military conscription by the yr 2027.

 

(2/2) Rangsiman said the party doesn't mind that the plans resemble that of his party's. In a not so related development, he calls for caretaker PM Gen Prayut to congratulate his party for winning the election. He added it's a normal practice and not too late if Prayut do it now.

 

https://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1664192916238237696

 

[HaoleBoy]

Between 2017 and 2021, the armed forces managed to decrease the number of military personnel by over 8,000

 

How many Generals were reduced in this time period if military personnel were reduced?
Sure seems like a knee-jerk reaction by the military gov. to MFP's plans ????  ????
 

Why must the General reduction wait until 2027?  Why wasn't this laid out for transparency before this?  MFP sure is setting an example about transparency and being upfront on issues.

[Eric Loh]

What about cutting military conscription and saved 16 billion baht. It's money down the drain after all. 

[h90]

1 hour ago, HaoleBoy said:

Between 2017 and 2021, the armed forces managed to decrease the number of military personnel by over 8,000

 

How many Generals were reduced in this time period if military personnel were reduced?
Sure seems like a knee-jerk reaction by the military gov. to MFP's plans ????  ????
 

Why must the General reduction wait until 2027?  Why wasn't this laid out for transparency before this?  MFP sure is setting an example about transparency and being upfront on issues.

you must wait till they retire as you can't kick them out

[zzaa09]

Reform?

 

Hmmmm...

[spidermike007]

Reducing the number of generals to 12, would likely be good enough to accomplish all the needs of the army. And think of how much that would save. Trim the blubber. 

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The number of generals would be cut by half in 2027, the deputy spokesman said.

How many will be promoted to General before then and get that lovely big fat pension? that tax payers foot the bill for even after they're dead and it carries on to their families

[zzaa09]

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Reducing the number of generals to 12, would likely be good enough to accomplish all the needs of the army. And think of how much that would save. Trim the blubber. 

Much more practical and apt to replace the blubber. 

Trimming the excess fat would do little. 

[billd766]

1 hour ago, h90 said:

you must wait till they retire as you can't kick them out

Of course you can kick them out.

 

It is called a reduction of force.

 

Only about 10 or a dozen active service generals are needed.

 

Simply dump the surplus ones as not required.

 

They get their pensions only, no military house, car. driver, servants. Just the same as retired generals world wide. If they want more money then get a real job, NOT in politics, and work for it using their military skills.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, zzaa09 said:

Reform?

 

Hmmmm...

Reform of the military by the military?

 

Who said that the generals don't have a sense of humour?

 

They have had 9 years to do that, and only managed to reduce the force by 8,000 men.

[Srikcir]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand‘s Defence Council has recently given the green light to a reform plan that aims to reduce the number of generals in the armed forces by 50% by 2027

It was the Council chaired by PM and Defense Minister Prayut who agreed (with himself?) in January 2022 to restructure the military by FY 2027. This time frame appears in part to accommodate retirement of "experts, specialists and specialists experts" who routinely hold general rank (what!) and would not be replaced in general rank. 

 

So it would seem that with the new government under the MFP coalition such restructuring is not locked into place, time-sensitive nor in details, unless the military is allowed Defense Minister control. It appears that it has been tradition that a former general get DM, likely more as a military/royalist check on any overly progressive government. It would be very democratic that the next DM be controlled by MFP et al.

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

The armed forces had already reduced the number of military personnel by 8,000 from 2017- 2021, with the savings of 1.5 billion baht. By 2027, more 12,000 personnel will be reduced, which will help save 2.9 billion baht.

Keep going.

[Sydebolle]

600 (reduced) generals save THB 1'400'000'000 - quite an interesting amount, considering their actual postings into the Ministry of Inactive Posts. This clocks up to be almost THB 200'000/general/month. 
Explains possibly the lavish spending of the army on toys like aircraft carriers (parked in bright sunshine in Sattahip for the last 35 years), the three submarines (initially ordered without engines), the aircraft (the Thai air force wants to replace while the very same planes are being delivered to Ukraine by the NATO war chest), helicopters of which countless are not working anymore due to lack of ........ let's not go there. 

This tax generation, to feed those hungry army boys, might explain partly the doubled booze pricing, the exorbitant prices on pick-ups and vehicles etc. etc. 

With all that money they could make so much better use of it ............. 

[Andre0720]

Why reform only the military I wonder?

[jcmj]

Well I guess they are going to have to figure out a way to fill their pockets before this happens. Glad they are giving them plenty of time. ????

[ujayujay]

16 hours ago, HaoleBoy said:

Between 2017 and 2021, the armed forces managed to decrease the number of military personnel by over 8,000

 

How many Generals were reduced in this time period if military personnel were reduced?
Sure seems like a knee-jerk reaction by the military gov. to MFP's plans ????  ????
 

Why must the General reduction wait until 2027?  Why wasn't this laid out for transparency before this?  MFP sure is setting an example about transparency and being upfront on issues.

Why weren't you thrown out on the street by your employer from one day to the next?

[herfiehandbag]

13 hours ago, billd766 said:

Reform of the military by the military?

 

Who said that the generals don't have a sense of humour?

 

They have had 9 years to do that, and only managed to reduce the force by 8,000 men.

And most of those are probably AWOL!

[herfiehandbag]

Thai Army has 1200.

 

British Army has 85.

 

US armed forces (across the board) has 650.

[h90]

13 hours ago, billd766 said:

Of course you can kick them out.

 

It is called a reduction of force.

 

Only about 10 or a dozen active service generals are needed.

 

Simply dump the surplus ones as not required.

 

They get their pensions only, no military house, car. driver, servants. Just the same as retired generals world wide. If they want more money then get a real job, NOT in politics, and work for it using their military skills.

No you can't fire a civil servant that has not doing something wrong...no way and military officers over a specific rank are even more protected.
So you have to give them their salary till the are 60 or 65 and a job that is suitable for the rank.....or maybe you can send them home on full salary.
In other countries have been made deals to offer them a job in the police force, or give them some golden handshake for early retirement.

And you have as second problem, you can't stop promoting good younger people because you have too many sitting their already. The good one, will find a different job when they know they can't rise...so 20 years later you would have only idiots left.

[HaoleBoy]

16 hours ago, h90 said:

you must wait till they retire as you can't kick them out

It's called early retirement.

[h90]

3 minutes ago, HaoleBoy said:

It's called early retirement.

at full salary....or something both sides agree (which will be close to full salary)

[Burma Bill]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

reinforcements of ..................................and the 3rd Cavalry Division will be scrapped

Well I never, Thailand's modern warfare:

 

 

I suppose would be ideal for street protests?

[PETERTHEEATER]

What is the current ratio, in the Army, of Generals to other ranks?

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

What is the current ratio, in the Army, of Generals to other ranks?

The Thai military has more than 1,700 flag officers (generals and admirals), roughly one general for every 212 troops, a bloated number for a military of its size.

By comparison, the US military as of 1 November 2018 had 920 active duty general and flag officers (GFOs) for a force of 1,317,325 personnel, or one flag officer for every 1430 troops.

 

Royal Thai Armed Forces - Wikipedia

[newnative]

     Right from the get-go I see a problem.  Why is a high-ranking colonel  a mere spokesman???  And, not even the head spokesman, just a 'deputy'.  Should be a job for a lieutenant.  Still, looks like someone is trying to get earn some Brownie points with Move Forward so we'll see.  Plenty to weed out, that's for sure.