Advice on military reform offered to Thailand’s new Defence Minister

[webfact]

Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has offered some advice to Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang regarding military reform, suggesting that he should not follow everything told to him by the military’s top brass, following their informal meeting on Sunday at Government House.

 

The first area is the procurement of armaments. Somchai said that the issue is not about whether to purchase or not, but is about whether the armaments to be procured are useful and worth the expenditure and whether the procurement process is transparent.

 

The second area is mandatory or voluntary conscription. He said the issue at stake is not the method of enlistment, but is about the abuse of the conscripts, by making them to run errands and do chores at the houses of generals and the exploitation of junior officers by their seniors.

 

Top Photo from Facebook: Somchai Srisutthiyakorn

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/advice-on-military-reform-offered-to-thailands-new-defence-minister/

 

-- Thai PBS 2023-09-05

 

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[bamnutsak]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

He said the issue at stake is not the method of enlistment, but is about the abuse of the conscripts

 

No, it isn't. 

 

Yes, abusing conscripts seems like something a senior military official should know is wrong, but they don't apparently. 

 

The issue is the method of, well I don't think calling mandatory service based on the color of the ball is "enlistment".

 

But a major part of Military Reforms is moving towards a voluntary military, along with smaller budget, smaller top-heavy command structure and more reasonable procurements.

 

Look, the people need to demand a change in mission for the Thai military. That change means moving away from defending the few against the many Thai citizens. The Thai military seems to be ~ 95% focused on maintaining the status quo. ISOC alone has ~ 6,000 (I bet that number is a lot higher) staff monitoring "Internal Security".

 

 

[mfd101]

3 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

the people need to demand a change in mission for the Thai military.

As in most Third World countries, the basic mission of the Thai military is (whether explicitly or not) something called 'nation building'. Which is not surprising given that it is often - at least in theory - the only national institution with the resources, capability & discipline to carry out 101 tasks that noone else can do.

 

If you live near the border (as I do) just about every government employee - including school teachers - is a military officer wearing a uniform. Does this improve the lives of the natives? No but it certainly improves the lives of the government employees ...

 

So it becomes integrated into daily life, both for the citizens and the government, and the inevitable slide in to politics & graft gets under way.  Nothing will change in terms of overbearing military presence at all levels of national life until this is fixed. It will take decades.

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has offered some advice to Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang regarding military reform, suggesting that he should not follow everything told to him by the military’s top brass,

Sutin should be able to make decisions as defense minister or resign his post.

[mfd101]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Sutin should be able to make decisions as defense minister or resign his post.

Making decisions and anything changing in the real world are 2 different things.

 

If nothing changes when the Minister issues an order, where does the responsibility lie? With the Minister who's ignored? or with those who ignore him?

[fdimike]

19 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

 

No, it isn't. 

 

Yes, abusing conscripts seems like something a senior military official should know is wrong, but they don't apparently. 

 

The issue is the method of, well I don't think calling mandatory service based on the color of the ball is "enlistment".

 

But a major part of Military Reforms is moving towards a voluntary military, along with smaller budget, smaller top-heavy command structure and more reasonable procurements.

 

Look, the people need to demand a change in mission for the Thai military. That change means moving away from defending the few against the many Thai citizens. The Thai military seems to be ~ 95% focused on maintaining the status quo. ISOC alone has ~ 6,000 (I bet that number is a lot higher) staff monitoring "Internal Security".

 

 

I totally disagree with a volunteer military as it will turn out to be mercenary force just like the US military which has turned into a total failure.  Thailand should follow the lead of Switzerland and have every eligible person perform military service in support of the country.  Abusing conscripts, making them into "slaves" for senior officers needs to be stopped immediately. JMHO 

Edited September 6, 2023 by fdimike

[mikebell]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

are useful and worth the expenditure and whether the procurement process is transparent.

The 1st two reasons are important but it is the last one that ensures whether the order is procured.

[bamnutsak]

5 minutes ago, fdimike said:

I totally disagree with a volunteer military

I don't disagree with 100% compulsory NATIONAL (not limited to military) service in general, this is used in many countries. However that wasn't one of the options offered here for eliminated conscription. An all-volunteer force is the only alternative I've seen offered.

 

First you have to define the mission(s). Then you can determine staffing. 

 

100% compulsory service here, IMO, would be a bad thing. It would make the already un-checked military power and influence over Thai society even more oppressive. One major issue here is that a few hundred thousand potential "recruits" are serving prison sentence for drug-related crimes, so the available pool is reduced.

 

Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin has a good quote regarding the make-up of a successful team...

 

“We can’t do this with hostages, man. We need volunteers,”

 

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

Making decisions and anything changing in the real world are 2 different things.

 

If nothing changes when the Minister issues an order, where does the responsibility lie? With the Minister who's ignored? or with those who ignore him?

Both

 

[lordgrinz]

First item on the Agenda should be to remove the dinosaur Generals, way too many!!!!

[PETERTHEEATER]

Good to know that Khun Somchai gets his info from the AN Forum.

[Hunz Kittisak]

First civilian Defence Minister in history who isn’t concurrently Prime Minister. 
He’s got his work cut out 

[cncltd1973]

13 hours ago, fdimike said:

Thailand should follow the lead of Switzerland

very difficult idea to even begin imagining. like saying Paulie Shore should act more like Daniel Day Lewis, those 2 worlds will never meet!

[Flory]

For military reform to really take hold, the armed forces would first need to lose face bigtime (for example: excessive use of force against civilians -- 2010 is now too long ago) and the institution would have to side with the public. Until then, we're going to see a lot of talk and little action. Whatever changes there are will be window-dressing and will certainly not cut into the flow of funds to pockets.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Flory