Opinion » Opinion
FROM THE BARRACKS
Red presence forces military to establish new division
- Published: 29/07/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
Although the plan to set up the 7th Infantry Division has long been in the army's pipeline, no commander ever come close to actually realising this vision.
That army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda has chosen to resurrect the idea at this time has therefore raised the question of whether there is more to the move, than simply a need to meet military demand.
It does not help that the proposed 7th division would be based at Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, a stronghold of the red shirts. Besides, the need to invest more than 10 billion baht in establishing this unit has prompted sharp criticism from the opposition Puea Thai Party, which views the new military unit as a tool to beat back the red shirts.
Truth be told, the unit will not be the start of the army's political work. Field operations to reach out to rural villagers and to promote the role of the army were begun after the Sept 19, 2006 coup. The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) used a budget of about one billion baht to send tens of thousands of soldiers into villages each year under the banner of "fight the economic crisis with the sufficiency economy philosophy".
Although these soldiers usually went around under such goodwill projects as fighting the drought or recommending supplementary income activities, many people criticised them as trying to dissolve political divisions.
After the crowd dispersal at Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok, the army under the Isoc recorded the names and addresses as well as ID cards of the red shirts involved before releasing them. The army then visited them at home to try to provide "healing" in its own inimitable way.
There is the argument that diverting soldiers usually tasked with controlling narcotics or patrolling the border into doing political work has worsened the problems of drugs and ethnic groups.
The reason Gen Anupong gave for the establishment of the 7th infantry unit is the long borderline in the north between Thailand and Burma and Thailand and Laos - a distance of more than 2,000km altogether. Other army regions have at least two infantry units.
The First Army Area Command, in charge of Bangkok and the central provinces and the Thai-Burmese border at Prachuap Khiri Khan and Thai-Cambodia border at Prachin Buri, controls as many as three infantry divisions, plus cavalry and artillery.
The Second Army Area Command, overseeing the Isan Northeast, also controls two units - the Third Infantry and Sixth Infantry.
The Fourth Army Area Command used to control only one unit of Fifth Infantry. After the unrest in the South, its area of command, however, the former reserve unit of the 15th Infantry was moved from its base at Prachuap Khiri Khan to be added to the southern force. More personnel and departments were added - up to 15,000 people - to make it qualify as a division.
Overall, the army plans to have as many as 16 infantry divisions - some of them will serve as back-up units such as the 11th Infantry Division in Chachoengsao. At present, nine have been established, while seven do not exist in the real plan.
Right now, the Third Army Area Command in charge of the North has to take care of many tasks, including protecting the border, stemming the drugs trade, preventing illegal logging as well as monitoring problems of ethnic groups.
After the 2006 coup and the red shirt riots in 2009 and April and May this year, soldiers from the Third Army Area have also been dispatched to do the political work of promoting understanding among the people.
The added responsibility has given rise to the concern that the Third Army Area could be spread too thin, that their mission of controlling the border and stemming the flow of narcotic drugs could suffer because of the political needs.
Another reason why there is now the necessity for another military division in the North is Gen Anupong's concern over Burma's nuclear project. News that the Burmese junta is cooperating with North Korea in developing its nuclear ambitions, with a series of tunnels being dug, including one reportedly only 200km from Mae Hong Son, is disturbing to the Thai army.
Since there are some infantry units stationed in the North, the establishment of the 7th division would not have to start from scratch. The army only needs to boost the existing force up to three regiments or nine battalions, with about 10,000 soldiers and procure more weapons and machinery accordingly.
Despite military reasons, there is no doubt that the hidden agenda of having a new division is to bring the force in to take care of "internal security" concerns.
The North is undoubtedly a red zone. After the clash at Ratchaprasong, the army sees an increasing need to have soldiers operate in the field. Indeed, Gen Anupong and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security, Suthep Thaugsuban, discussed the possibility of setting up the 7th Division since late 2009.
To realise this ambition, the army plans to carry out a five-year project from 2011 to 2015, with a budget of more than 10 billion baht.
As soon as news about the new division got out, however, the plan drew heavy criticism from the opposition Puea Thai Party. The army's plan of setting up the division's headquarters in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, also received strong opposition as the area is considered a red shirt stronghold.
The resistance is so strong that the army has prepared a back-up plan - to have the division's headquarters in Lamphun instead.
Critics of the army - which is viewed as being solidly on the Abhisit government's side after the Ratchaprasong operation - have ventured so far as to speculate that the army is setting up the new division in preparation for the coming general election.
After all, the Isoc is the army's arm for political affairs.
Apart from the 7th Division, the army also plans to set up the 3rd Cavalry Division in Khon Kaen. Strategically, this unit would enhance the capacity of the two existing divisions - the 1st Division supervising the North and the 2nd Division overseeing the Central Plains.
Internally, having another cavalry division will solve the organisational bottleneck and give more career opportunities to cavalrymen, who at present can advance in their careers only through other divisions.
Ultimately, it is a known fact that the setting up of a 3rd Cavalry Division has been a long-held dream of Privy Council President Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, who asked for this as a birthday gift from the army chief in 2007. "So that I can die with my eyes closed," said Gen Prem, who hails from the cavalry.
Although sources said that the set-up of the two divisions will be developed concurrently, the 7th Infantry Division looks set to progress faster than the 3rd Cavalry as it requires a shorter time and smaller budget. The 3rd Cavalry division will require a budget of about 70 billion baht to establish, plus a timeframe of about 10 years.
Right now, the Ministry of Defence still has not approved the proposal forwarded to it by the army.
Politically speaking, there is every reason to believe that the 7th Division will be set up sooner than the 3rd Cavalry, especially when considering the mission of battling Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts, a task for which the government has no one to rely on but the military. With the 7th Division in place, the government would certainly benefit.
- Wassana Nanuam reports on military affairs for the Bangkok Post.
About the author
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- Writer: Wassana Nanuam
- Position: Reporter
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