Thailand's army chief has transferred most of the middle-ranking officers under generals deemed loyal to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in what observers described Thursday as a "counter punch" to the embattled premier.
Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaatglin has signed an order transferring 129 middle-ranking officers, nearly half of whom had been under the command of a clique of generals known to be close to the prime minister, the army's Web site has revealed.
The order, which has caught many by surprise as such transfers usually occur after the top-level military reshuffle on Oct. 1, was seen by political observers as intended to send a message to Thaksin not to interfere in the military's affairs.
"I see it as a counter punch," said Thitinan Pongsudhivak, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University. "This a message to Thaksin that they [the military] have some muscle that they can flex too."
"And second it's an outflanking maneuver to try to remove some to the key commanders on Thaksin's side who could be in place to stage a coup," Thitinan added.
Battalion leaders, especially those stationed in Bangkok, have played crucial roles in many of the past 19 military coups d'etat or coup attempts in Thailand over the past seven decades.
Former Thai prime minister, General Prem Tinsulanonda, in a speech delivered last week at a military academy, likened the military to a horse and the government to a jockey, explaining that governments come and go but the military's true loyalty must always be to the nation and the king.
Prem's remarks were made amid rumors that Thaksin was planning to interfere in the annual military reshuffle of top generals, replacing Army Commander-in Chief Sonthi, deemed a Prem loyalist, by his deputy General Pornchai Kranlert, deemed a Thaksin loyalist.
Thaksin yesterday declined to comment on the mid-level military reshuffle, saying it was an internal affair of the military and the responsibility of the army chief.
"The government is only responsible for the reshuffle of top generals, because the list needs to be submitted to the king for approval," Thaksin told reporters.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a