The Thai king has endorsed an annual reshuffle of the military, with the army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, also the newly-appointed prime minister, being replaced by his current deputy.

According to the reshuffle list published in the Royal Gazette on Monday, deputy army chief Gen Udomdej Sitabutr will assume the post of army chief after Prayuth, concurrently head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) that staged the May 22 coup, retires at the end of September.

In the reshuffle that will take effect on Oct. 1, navy chief Adm Narong Phipatanasai and air force chief ACM Prajin Juntong will be replaced by assistant navy chief Adm Kraisorn Chansuwanich and air force chief-of-staff ACM Treetos Sonjaeng, respectively.

Deputy supreme commander Gen Worapong Sa-nganetr will succeed Gen Tanasak Patimaprakorn as the new supreme commander.

During his meeting with unit commanders on Monday, which was likely the last one, the outgoing army chief Prayuth urged all military units to support or perform their duties in line with NCPO and government policies.

The ongoing campaign to restore order in different areas of the Thai society, including crackdowns on corruption, illicit drugs and forest depletion, must be implemented, he was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying in his speech.

Prayuth also instructed soldiers to convey to the people information concerning national development strategies and state administration, alleviate their grievances and facilitate their participation in the country's reform. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)