Thai Military Budget Slashed By Bt19 Billion

[george]

The military budget slashed by Bt19 billion, arms procurement suspended: Anupong

BANGKOK: -- The military will suspend all plans for arms procurement in light of the austerity budget for 2010 and following a spending cut of Bt19 billion, Army chief General Anupong Paochinda said on Thursday.

The Army alone will see a budget reduction of Bt10 billion, Anupong said.

"There is no choice but to accommodate to the country's reality of hard times; there is no money and the military will have to survive without it," he said.

-- The Nation 2009-05-21

[geriatrickid]

The military budget slashed by Bt19 billion, arms procurement suspended: Anupong

The Army alone will see a budget reduction of Bt10 billion, Anupong said.

Seems odd that navy and airforce which are significantly smaller than army see 9billion reduction. Suggests to me that the army has more political clout.

Probably could have cut even more if the army wasn't so politically powerful.

Edited May 21, 2009 by geriatrickid

[TAWP]

What do you mean, the army got 10b in reduction, the other two combined got 9b...and they are smaller, as you say. So The army had the largest cut. Unless you are reasoning that all forces had excess cash in relations to their size... we really need to know the budget posts to everything to be able to validate this...

Edited May 21, 2009 by TAWP

[kimincm]

Does anybody know, approx.how many people in the combined Thai services,must be a big number,where I live, between C.Mai and Mae Rim, talk about wasted revenue,they have a Livestock Battalion,these soldiers

main job is to look after cows,horses mules and donkeys,actually I can understand, this is state of the art weaponry necessary in a modern army.I'd just like to know where the threat to Thai is coming from,who's the potential enemy everybody has to be protected from, to the detriment of any Social Policies.

[sriracha john]

actually I can understand, this is state of the art weaponry necessary in a modern army.I'd just like to know where the threat to Thai is coming from,who's the potential enemy everybody has to be protected from, to the detriment of any Social Policies.

One of the biggest threats coming to the Thai military...to the detriment of soldier and sailor's lives...is the age of the equipment they are given to work with and to which their lives depend on... Nevermind "state of the art"... how about something as critically important as aircraft that's not 40 years old....

Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Chalit Pukphasuk said Thursday that the crash of an Air Force helicopter in Yala was the biggest loss of the Air Force in 20 years.

Chalit said the doomed fate helicopter was very old and had been in service for 39 years.

Thai Air Force soldiers carry caskets containing the bodies of nine people who died after a Thai army helicopter crashed, at the Royal Thai Air force Headquarters in Bangkok. The Thai Air Force helicopter crashed on Wednesday in the country's troubled south, killing all 10 aboard, an Army spokesman said, the second military helicopter to go down in the region in less than two months. One body was returned to Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

REUTERS

R.I.P.

[MiG16]

One of the biggest threats coming to the Thai military...to the detriment of soldier and sailor's lives...is the age of the equipment they are given to work with and to which their lives depend on... Nevermind "state of the art"... how about something as critically important as aircraft that's not 40 years old....

a bit side tracked, but...

not much different to the police though

not many are aware that often police have to purchase their own bullet proof vests, and even guns, cos the official issued ones are sub-standard. with those kind of things, one doesnt want to be taking risks.

some have to bring their own computer / typewriters to work

something we cant even imagine. well at least I cant. that Im expected to show up to work, find out they dont have the basic office equipment, and so I should bring in my own? hmmmmm

does explain why they start trying to find alternative income then

[sriracha john]

The Gripen jet fighter plane from Sweden and the BTR-3U armoured personnel carrier from Ukraine

Major arms purchases put on hold

Budget cuts force army to train on simulators

All arms procurement projects with tied-over budgets will be shelved in the wake of deep defence budget cuts which are also prompting the armed forces to resort to training on simulators, Army Chief Anupong Paojinda says. Of the proposed military spending cuts amounting to 19 Billion baht, the army's budget for the 2010 fiscal year will be slashed by 10 Billion baht, General Anupong said yesterday.

The armed forces face heavy cuts after the country's revenue collections fell short of target. The government also needs to raise funds to finance economic stimulus schemes.

Gen Anupong said the cuts would result in the army freezing the 3.89-billion-baht purchase of another lot of 89 armoured personnel carriers from Ukraine. The army also would be forced to switch to computer-simulated command post exercises instead of field training exercises, he said.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-05-22

Edited May 21, 2009 by sriracha john

[geriatrickid]

What do you mean, the army got 10b in reduction, the other two combined got 9b...and they are smaller, as you say. So The army had the largest cut. Unless you are reasoning that all forces had excess cash in relations to their size... we really need to know the budget posts to everything to be able to validate this...

I am trying to avoid long posts. However, you asked for one;

In 2008 the Thai military had 314,000 members + 200,000 reservists + approx. 114,000 paramilitary members.

The RTN has an estimated 60,000 personnel of which 1200 are assigned to the "air wing", and 20,000 are in the Marine corps. The navy has an approx. 50% turnover every 2 years since 25,000-30,000 personnel are conscripts. Start connecting the dots.

The RTAF has an estimated 43,000 personnel. It has less turnover due to the greater training requirements with fewer conscripts used. Keep connecting the dots

That leaves approx 210,000 coming under the army + the reservists + the paramilitary units.

Do the math. If the cuts are almost the same, that means that the airforce and navy took the brunt of the cuts. Now finish connecting the dots with what is public knowledge: The navy and airforce leadership has for the most part stayed out of politics. It is the Thai navy that takes the leadership role on conservation and environmental protection efforts. It is the air force that takes the lead on bringing aid to the regions. Both the navy and airforce have prestige in terms of their image. These aren't the units that are used against the people. They also are not as top heavy in the higher ranks as the army. It is no great secret that line officers in the navy and flying officers in the air force are better educated and trained than their counterparts in the army. It's a reflection of the complexity of their vessels and aircraft. The airforce and navy also have more officers (as a percentage of the leadership) in their ranks that have undergone foreign training. I think one can make a reasonable conclusion as to which branch wears the pants in terms of government influence. It may just serve the army's purpose to see the airforce and navy crippled.

[Lite Beer]

Post containing thinly disguised comments on the Royal Family deleted. As well as the reply to it.

[TAWP]

What do you mean, the army got 10b in reduction, the other two combined got 9b...and they are smaller, as you say. So The army had the largest cut. Unless you are reasoning that all forces had excess cash in relations to their size... we really need to know the budget posts to everything to be able to validate this...

I am trying to avoid long posts. However, you asked for one;

In 2008 the Thai military had 314,000 members + 200,000 reservists + approx. 114,000 paramilitary members.

The RTN has an estimated 60,000 personnel of which 1200 are assigned to the "air wing", and 20,000 are in the Marine corps. The navy has an approx. 50% turnover every 2 years since 25,000-30,000 personnel are conscripts. Start connecting the dots.

The RTAF has an estimated 43,000 personnel. It has less turnover due to the greater training requirements with fewer conscripts used. Keep connecting the dots

That leaves approx 210,000 coming under the army + the reservists + the paramilitary units.

Do the math. If the cuts are almost the same, that means that the airforce and navy took the brunt of the cuts. Now finish connecting the dots with what is public knowledge: The navy and airforce leadership has for the most part stayed out of politics. It is the Thai navy that takes the leadership role on conservation and environmental protection efforts. It is the air force that takes the lead on bringing aid to the regions. Both the navy and airforce have prestige in terms of their image. These aren't the units that are used against the people. They also are not as top heavy in the higher ranks as the army. It is no great secret that line officers in the navy and flying officers in the air force are better educated and trained than their counterparts in the army. It's a reflection of the complexity of their vessels and aircraft. The airforce and navy also have more officers (as a percentage of the leadership) in their ranks that have undergone foreign training. I think one can make a reasonable conclusion as to which branch wears the pants in terms of government influence. It may just serve the army's purpose to see the airforce and navy crippled.

But your logic is still based on assumptions. Assumptions that the Airforce for example didn't already have an excessively large budget allocated to them to accommodate the purchase of the Gripen for instance. So if they now can be considered scrapped (or halted) then this is one big post that can be nulled in one strike with the pen without affecting the status of any current employees. And so on.

When it comes to equipment it would stand to reason that the army has less costly gear per soldier, so if the plan is to halt all purchases for all branches for the coming two years...the Airforce and Navy has more baht per soldier to not be allocated to them.

[DaleBlue]

Cut for show only lah.

[TAWP]

Cut for show only lah.

Ah, cue the red brigade...

Military increased budget is seen as the military grafting for power, the Dems decreasing the budget...nah, it must be fake. Because the Dems and the military are bed-mates.

Video-evidence will be shown right after the showing of killing of hundreds is broadcasted...

[Losangels]

Cut for show only lah.

I feel the same way, can we the public go audit their budget?..I don't think so.

How about "secret military budget" that are not disclosed due to "national security" reasons?

[Ricardo]

where I live, between C.Mai and Mae Rim, talk about wasted revenue,they have a Livestock Battalion,these soldiers

main job is to look after cows,horses mules and donkeys,actually I can understand, this is state of the art weaponry necessary in a modern army.

Well yes, apparently the mules are very useful to carry supplies, to forward-units based on the border-areas, remote from any roads, which is why the army still uses them here in the North-West.

I recall similar transport allegedly being used, for carrying drugs in the old days, along the border trails ?

And cows & horses conveniently manufacture new cows & horses, without the need for factories or commisionable barter-trades, for frozen chicken or prawns.

Now wouldn't it be wonderful if there were an elephant-transport brigade, creating a 'heavy-lift' capability, whilst also saving these magnificent creatures from near-extinction here in Thailand !

[bangon04]

Cut for show only lah.

I feel the same way, can we the public go audit their budget?..I don't think so.

How about "secret military budget" that are not disclosed due to "national security" reasons?

10 billion baht doesn't sound very much, when you count the number of generals the army has. It would only mean that they forego their usual procurement commissions.........a collective effort at belt-tightening. Lucky that generals do not need to pass fitness tests.

[DaleBlue]

Cut for show only lah.

I feel the same way, can we the public go audit their budget?..I don't think so.

How about "secret military budget" that are not disclosed due to "national security" reasons?

10 billion baht doesn't sound very much, when you count the number of generals the army has. It would only mean that they forego their usual procurement commissions.........a collective effort at belt-tightening. Lucky that generals do not need to pass fitness tests.

There is no such thing as a "secret military budget" in Thailand. The army is very transparent.

[Texpat]

The Thai has a huge black budget to support their covert ops around the globe.

Hundreds of thousands of bullet-repelling amulets to protect the troops are also off-budget. Hardly pocket change.

[hammered]

What do you mean, the army got 10b in reduction, the other two combined got 9b...and they are smaller, as you say. So The army had the largest cut. Unless you are reasoning that all forces had excess cash in relations to their size... we really need to know the budget posts to everything to be able to validate this...

I am trying to avoid long posts. However, you asked for one;

In 2008 the Thai military had 314,000 members + 200,000 reservists + approx. 114,000 paramilitary members.

The RTN has an estimated 60,000 personnel of which 1200 are assigned to the "air wing", and 20,000 are in the Marine corps. The navy has an approx. 50% turnover every 2 years since 25,000-30,000 personnel are conscripts. Start connecting the dots.

The RTAF has an estimated 43,000 personnel. It has less turnover due to the greater training requirements with fewer conscripts used. Keep connecting the dots

That leaves approx 210,000 coming under the army + the reservists + the paramilitary units.

Do the math. If the cuts are almost the same, that means that the airforce and navy took the brunt of the cuts. Now finish connecting the dots with what is public knowledge: The navy and airforce leadership has for the most part stayed out of politics. It is the Thai navy that takes the leadership role on conservation and environmental protection efforts. It is the air force that takes the lead on bringing aid to the regions. Both the navy and airforce have prestige in terms of their image. These aren't the units that are used against the people. They also are not as top heavy in the higher ranks as the army. It is no great secret that line officers in the navy and flying officers in the air force are better educated and trained than their counterparts in the army. It's a reflection of the complexity of their vessels and aircraft. The airforce and navy also have more officers (as a percentage of the leadership) in their ranks that have undergone foreign training. I think one can make a reasonable conclusion as to which branch wears the pants in terms of government influence. It may just serve the army's purpose to see the airforce and navy crippled.

But actually the air force and navy have been as much involved in politics as the army and for that matter the police.

Loyalties in the military cross force and are based on other things. The military work together to form consensus on what they can all agree to. They are divided within force but there are still common agreements. It is not really different from the old class 5 versus 7 stuff.

The fact that the airforce and navy combined face cuts of 9 billion compared to 10 billion is far more likely linked to expense of cancelled planned purchase. It is the cream that has been cancelled. You cant cancel salaries etc, and the army are the only force currently seeing action (down south).

The historical rivalry in Thailand has always been between the military and the police and who was on top was settled a long time ago when iirc after a military intervention the navy which at the time was under police control was moved to the military.

There is no doubt in Thailand that the army are the senior service. Then again every country has that.

[Lite Beer]

Royal comments deleted.