- By Stingray, Thai Intel’s national security
It had been a long wait for Thailand‘s global allies-for Thailand’s national security strategist to emerge from focusing on internal Thailand concentration-towards a focus on external challenges.
- However, Yingluck, Thailand’s prime minister, recently visited a string of HQ of the Thai defense establishment-and Yingluck, said, quote: “Thailand’s defenses will be kept up-dated with regional defense build-ups.”
- Then today, as the local press forced difficult question on Prayuth, the Thai army chief, to answer, mostly focusing on internal Thailand questions, Prayuth, after answering a string of question about internal Thailand, said, quote: “Internal Thailand political problems have meant that I am having little time to address new type of external challenges.”
Thailand, indeed continues to face a great deal of internal problems-where the Thai military, that have traditionally been greatly involved in Thailand’s internal affairs-relating mostly to defining what internal security is.
Since then, Thailand has emerged as one global center for transnational crimes. Then China is fast emerging as an Asian power-house, with the USA, countering that rise. Regionally, every Asian countries are reacting to the rise of China, one way or another. Then ASEAN itself, sees Burma and Vietnam emerging, as Indonesia, taking the lead as the un-disputed leader of ASEAN.
- Regionally, a quiet arms race have begun, mixed in with a very rapid globalization of economics, business and sociocultural integration.
But is Thailand, ready, to join the ranks of Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore-in being globally and regional “Assertive” with Thailand, having shrunken into a Bhutan type of shell for many years-where even today, the Thai establishment continues to exhibit a great deal of xenophobia?
There are some signs of positive development. For example, last week Cambodia fired onto a Thai helicopter-forcing the helicopter, packed with about 10 Thai soldiers to land in an emergency manner. The Thai establishment and many local press that represents them, in a knee-jerk far extreme right nationalist reaction-immediately went after the incident as a major event.
- However, the Thai military responded, with a great deal of restraints-and a crisis between the two countries was averted-perhaps, with the Yingluck government and the Thai military working together.
Another sign of a developing working relationship, on national security issues, between Yingluck and the Thai military is on the management of Thailand’s intelligence apparatus-where the latest is a partial compromise. Then Yingluck, even with major expenditures on re-building Thailand after the flooding, have not stood in the way of military budget request, such as for a fleet of submarines.
Matichon, a local newspaper in Thailand for the intellect, said that Yingluck is attempting to pull the Thai military away from the Thai establishment control. That could indeed be factual, however, also factual, is that Prayuth, as head of the Thai military, which in fact makes him the ultimate power-house in the Thai defense establishment-perhaps, is also realizing, that Thailand is falling behind in the region.
- Within the region, a great deal is at stake:
From rich oil and gas deposits in the Pacific and Gulf of Thailand, to new industrial base in Burma, to global access for goods and raw materials transportation, to aviation hubs and control over air space-and off course, to the dangerous transnational crimes-these are perhaps issues, that will increasingly take a Prayuth, that is much more globalize in out-look.
However, Thai politics is anything but coherent. If an internal Thailand crisis do emerge, would Thailand’s national security apparatus turn inward exclusively again?
AFP Reported:
Thailand’s powerful army chief expressed opposition Tuesday to amending the country’s lese majeste law, recently criticised by the West, saying those who opposed it should move abroad.
Critics say that Thailand has suppressed freedom of expression with stepped up use of the legislation, under which anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.
“It is not appropriate to discuss this. Personally I will do my part for national security in protecting (the monarchy),” General Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters.
When asked about activists calling for reform of the law, he said they “must go and live in foreign countries”. “Although we are a democracy, don’t go too far,” he added.
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