Bangkok Pundit - Prem: Legacy Building

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Posted by Mr. Wrigley | Saturday, September 26, 2009

Siam Report

Towards the end of August, Bangkok Post reported on Gen. Prem’s wish to set up a new 3rd cavalry division for the Northeast—a plan which could take 10 years and cost tens of billions of baht.

Bangkok Post: Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda's birthday wish from last year looks as if it will come true as the army has approved the set-up of a new cavalry division to take care of the Northeast.

Army Chief Anupong Paojinda has endorsed the proposal to establish the 3rd Cavalry Division and has been pushing for cabinet approval for the plan through Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, said an army source.

The 20-billion-baht plan will be presented to Gen Prem as a birthday gift on his 89th birthday party on Monday, said the source. The cavalry division set-up plan also comes as a test for the Democrat Party-led government over how much respect it has for the Privy Council president, the source said.

"I want to see the 3rd Cavalry Division before I die so that I will rest in peace," Gen Prem was quoted as saying to guests at his birthday party last year.

There are currently two cavalry divisions - the 1st Cavalry Division that oversees border areas in the North, and the 2nd Cavalry Division that takes care of the Central region and is usually the main source of forces when it comes to staging a military coup.

Given the high cost of a new cavalry division, the Abhisit Vejjajiva government is expected to approve in principle the proposal and work out the budget to fund it later, the source said. The time frame for setting up the 3rd Cavalry Division is 10 years and the costly purchase of tanks and armored personnel carriers required for the full establishment of the new division will not take place in the first five years.

Now, a month later, Bangkok Post reports that the Ministry of Defense’s screening committee has approved the plan, but it is unlikely to receive funding in the near-term because of economic conditions.

Bangkok Post: Gen Prem has made known his wish to see the division up and running in the Northeast. A Defense Ministry screening committee has approved the plan to set up the 3rd Cavalry Division as proposed by the army. The plan will be proposed to the defense minister and the cabinet, the source said.

According to the army's proposal, the establishment of the cavalry division requires a budget of 70 billion baht. However, during the first three years, the division would spend up to a billion baht to construct buildings and basic infrastructure, the source said.

The bulk of the budget will go to buying tanks.

The source said the huge budget was unlikely to be approved any time soon.It is expected the purchase of the tanks would be possible when the country's economy is in better shape, the source said. The army would soon draft up the division's organizational structure and propose it to the cabinet