Anupong Paochinda

Army chief Anupong Paochinda

Anupong Paochinda ( Thai : อนุ พง ษ์ เผ่า จินดา , pronunciation: [ ʔànùʔpʰoŋ pʰàwt͡ɕindaː ]; * October 10, 1949 ) is a Thai army officer. He was the Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2007 to 2010 . Since August 2014 he has been Minister of the Interior in the government of General Prayuth Chan-ocha .

Life

Origin, education and family

Anupong Paochinda grew up in Bangkok and attended the Phanthasuksa Pitthaya School. In 1966 he attended the Amnuay Silpa School and then the Chulachomklao Military Academy . He also holds a degree in Political Science from Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok and a degree from Thai National Defense College . Anupong Paochinda is married to Kunlaya Paochinda and has two children with her. He is considered a Beatles fan and hobby drummer.

Military career

Anupong Paochinda was in his position as commander of the First Army Region (to the stationed in Bangkok and the Central Region troops are) a member of the National Security Council, whose generals in September 2006 against the then elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra staged a coup . On October 1, 2007, he was promoted to the influential position of Commander in Chief of the Land Forces as the successor to Sonthi Boonyaratglin .

Like General Prawit Wongsuwan , who was defense minister from 2008 to 2011, and Anupong's later successor as army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha , Anupong belongs to the inner-military clique of the "Tigers of the East". All three began their careers in the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in eastern Thailand, particularly the 21st Infantry Regiment, the Queen's Life Guard.

Activity as commander in chief of the army

During the unrest of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD or “Yellow Shirts”) and the siege of the government building by its activists, which caused Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to declare a state of emergency on September 2, 2008, the Anupong government commissioned the restoration of public order. However, he ruled out using military means against the demonstrators. On November 26, 2008, in view of the occupation of the airport by the PAD, he even called on the government - now under the leadership of Somchai Wongsawat - to resign. According to the judgment of the Constitutional Court , which dissolved three of the parties in government and against several of its ministers and legislators imposed a policy ban led Anupong reportedly talks behind closed doors, as a result of which the bhumjaithai party of Newin Chidchob left the previous coalition government, instead of the previously opposition Democratic party of Abhisit Vejjajiva gave a majority. Some observers described this change of government initiated by the Chief of the Army as a "Putsch à la Anupong".

On January 14, 2010, he ordered the suspension of Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol , a former commander of the ISOC (Internal Security Operation Command) , whom he accused of being against the government, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD for short, colloquially “Red Shirts “) To have defected.

On April 16, 2010 he took over the management of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) from Suthep Thaugsuban . The CRES was founded to restore order in Bangkok and various provinces of Thailand in the wake of the unrest of the "red shirts" . In this position he was responsible for the bloody crackdown on the protests by the military in May 2010.

On October 1, 2010, his tenure as army chief ended. He was succeeded by Prayuth Chan-ocha .

Adviser to the junta and ministers after the 2014 coup

After another military coup on May 22, 2014, the junta, headed by General Prayuth, appointed him deputy chairman of its "advisory body" responsible for security issues. On August 31, 2014, he was appointed Minister of the Interior in Prayuth's cabinet.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Willi Germund: Careful General. . In: Frankfurter Rundschau Online. April 20, 2010.
2. ↑ Avudh Panananda: Is Prayuth the best choice amid signs of Army rivalry? In: The Nation. June 8, 2010.
3. ↑ John Cole, Steve Sciacchitano: Thai military resists political pressure. ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Asia Times Online. October 13, 2012.
4. ↑ Wassana Nanuam: 'Silent' military coup beats having a real one. In: Bangkok Post. December 12th 2013.
5. ↑ Wassana Nanuam: Will this crisis lead to another coup? In: Bangkok Post. 2nd January 2014.
6. ↑ Military calls for government resignation. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. November 26, 2008.
7. ↑ James Stent: Thoughts on Thailand's Turmoil. In: Bangkok, May 2010. Perspectives on a Divided Thailand. ISEAS Publishing, Singapore 2012, p. 33.
8. ↑ Federico Ferrara: Thailand Unhinged. Unraveling the Myth of a Thai-Style Democracy. Equinox Publishing, Singapore 2010, pp. 78-80.
9. ↑ Kevin Hewison: Thailand's conservative democratization. In: East Asia's New Democracies. Deepening, reversal, non-liberal alternatives. Routledge, 2010, p. 132.
10. ^ William Case: Democracy, governance and regime cycling in Thailand. In: Public Governance in Asia and the Limits of Electoral Democracy. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham / Northampton MA 2010, p. 226.
11. ^ Restructuring the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation to Streamline Efforts to Enforce Law and Order. Thai Ministry of Public Affairs, April 17, 2010, archived from the original on July 12, 2011 ; Retrieved March 27, 2012 . 
12. ↑ James Stent: Thoughts on Thailand's Turmoil. In: Bangkok, May 2010. Perspectives on a Divided Thailand. ISEAS Publishing, Singapore 2012, p. 25.
13. ^ Ron Corben: Thailand's new army chief takes office. In: Deutsche Welle . October 1, 2010, accessed March 27, 2012.
14. ↑ Thailand's army appoints government critics to advisory staff. In: ORF.at. May 27, 2014.
15. ^ Prayuth 1 cabinet endorsed. In: Bangkok Post , August 31, 2014.

Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.