Thailand’s yearly military reshuffle may be delayed due to coalition government

In light of the formation of an impending coalition government, Thailand’s yearly military reshuffle might be subjected to a delay, as revealed by Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is concurrently serving as the Defence Minister and Prime Minister. His announcement was made on Friday, upon the closure of a Defence Council session.

Expressing uncertainty about the timing of the reshuffle, Prayut said that he has no idea when it will be. His comments were remarkable as he usually refrains from engaging in political discourse following his election loss.

The justification for the potential hold up, he explained, centres on the fact that political groups are currently focused on establishing a coalition government, leading to certain other activities, including the annual reshuffle, being put on hold.

Nonetheless, an insider from the Defence Council shed some light on Prayut’s thoughts during the meeting. As per this source, the incumbent prime minister and defence minister urged the military’s top brass to sustain their efforts, irrespective of who will take the reins of the defence ministry or the prime minister’s office.

Upon the conclusion of the meeting, Prayut was seen heading to his office, flanked by leaders of the armed forces who engaged him in a brief conversation. It has been reported that during this interaction, Prayut called for the reshuffle plan to be concluded by the beginning of the upcoming month.

The Deputy Defence Ministry Spokesperson, Col Chitanat Punnothok, revealed that Prayut assigned the armed forces with the task of enhancing security measures at arms storage locations and executing regular inspections of such stockpiles. Echoing the gravity of Prayut’s directive, Punnothok warned that officers neglecting their duties in this regard would face legal consequences and disciplinary action.

The need for the aforementioned security measures became apparent when the navy initiated a probe into an alleged incident of theft involving an ordnance officer who is believed to have made off with a significant amount of cartridges from the Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri. The story broke on Facebook through the CSI-LA page, which claimed that the stolen military equipment including thousands of cartridges and grenade launcher rounds, was reported missing from a navy warehouse, reports Bangkok Post.