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

Govt set to enact security law in Thailand

PM cautions red shirts to control protest rally

Writer: PRADIT RUANGDIT and AEKARACH SATTABURUTH

Published: 26/08/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

The government will enforce the Internal Security Act in Dusit district from Saturday to Tuesday as part of strict security measures to cope with planned red shirt protests.

Police officers react to the testing of a special high-intensity loudspeaker at a riot control demonstration at the Metropolitan Police Bureau yesterday. The device emits a high-frequency sound painful to humans and has a range of three kilometres and will be on hand in case this Sunday’s rally by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship turns violent. APICHART JINAKUL

The act will be imposed in the district to protect Government House and government agencies which the demonstrators might target, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has been authorised to take charge of security operations in the district.

The act allows soldiers to step in to ensure law and order in the area. The government enforced the Internal Security Act in Phuket in July to prevent protesters derailing the meeting of Asean foreign ministers.

Red shirt protesters plan another major rally on Sunday at the Royal Plaza.

Under the law, the government would not ban peaceful protests. A rally could take place but it must not prevent government officials reaching their offices, Mr Abhisit said.

People would only be searched for weapons and authorities would consider the suitability of demonstrators' routes.

The prime minister said although the protest leaders insisted their demonstration would be peaceful, the government had learned from intelligence reports that there could be attempts to prolong the rally and make it spiral out of control to try to destabilise the government.

The government had to secure political order and a good atmosphere in the country to guarantee an economic recovery, he said.

Mr Abhisit and Mr Suthep said the government would not wait for the situation to get out of control before invoking the act. The act could be exercised when a situation was looking likely to occur, the prime minister said.

"I would like to stress that the government respects the rights and liberties of people but it is also duty-bound to secure order.

"We want everything to be as normal as possible. I don't believe people nationwide want to see a recurrence of April's incidents," Mr Abhisit said, referring to the anti-government protests that turned into riots in Bangkok during the Songkran holidays.

Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) that is planning the rally, said the government was abusing its power by invoking the internal security law and red shirt demonstrators would take strong retaliatory action.

He said the UDD originally planned to rally this Sunday only to protest against the government's delay of its petition for a royal pardon for Thaksin.

But by invoking the internal security law, the government was limiting people's rights, being dictatorial and showing its intention to confront the demonstrators, he said.

The red shirts would also wear black today to protest against Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda. They would gather in front of his Si Sao Thewes home today, Gen Prem's birthday.