Kalahom
The Kalahom Ministry ( Thai : กระทรวง กลาโหม , RTGS : Krasuang Kalahom , [ kraˈsuaŋ ka.laːˈhǒːm ], now also: Ministry of Defense of Thailand ) has been one of the main ministries of the Thai (formerly Siamese ) government since the middle of the 15th century . Today the ministry is responsible for the administration and control of the country's armed forces, national security, territorial integrity and national defense. The Thai armed forces consist of the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy and the Royal Thai Air Force .
Although the King of Thailand is nominally Commander in Chief of the Thai armed forces , the military is practically exclusively led by the Defense Minister as a member of the Thai cabinet. Retired General Prawit Wongsuwan has been Minister of Defense since August 2014 .
History from the 15th to the 19th century
The establishment of the Ministry of Defense goes back to the early Ayutthaya period . When King Borommaracha II conquered Angkor Thom in 1431 , he was able to kidnap many Khmer specialists as prisoners of war to Ayutthaya. They were mostly trained statesmen who stood by the king's later successor when he developed his new system of central and differentiated administration modeled on the Khmer.
King Borommatrailokanat (ruled 1448 to 1488) finally reorganized the Ayutthaya government from the ground up according to this system. He divided the administration into two main areas, the civil area under the direction of a minister of the Mahatthai and a military area under the minister of the Kalahom. Each area was further subdivided into numerous other departments, into sections and subsections, each with very specific tasks.
The head of the Kalahom, which could initially be translated as "Ministry of Military Affairs", bore the title of Chaophraya Senabodi . With a sakdina of 10,000 rai, he was one of the highest ranked nobles in the country. Like the king and his Uparat , he was allowed to put his personal seal on official documents. It showed an Asian mythical creature named Gajasiha ("elephant lion", Thai: คชสีห์ , Kotchasi ), a lion with an elephant trunk and tusks.
The Chaophraya Senabodi was responsible for the provincial cities south of the capital, his ministry was therefore also called the "Southern Ministry". At council meetings, each minister was assigned a special place in the audience hall; those with the highest Sakdina were about 20 paces from the window in which the King appeared at audiences, those with lower Sakdina further back. To the left of the throne were the civil servants, the Mahatthai , to the right those of the military, the Kalahom Ministry. The Kalahom was sometimes referred to as the "Ministry of the Right."
In the late Ayutthaya period , the Kalahom minister fell out of favor with the king, so that he transferred the administration of the southern provinces to the Phrakhlang minister (treasure minister). This was completely overwhelmed, so that as one of the first measures by King Puttha Yotfa Chulalok (Rama I) after his coronation, this office came back to the Kalahom.
Administrative reform of 1894
By administrative reform in the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) , the Kalahom was converted into a modern Ministry of Defense 1894th This was done in order to create a military command that was always ready for action, under the influence of the colonization efforts of the British (in the west and south) and the French (in the east and north).
The "Ministry of the South" was dissolved after the minister resigned for reasons of age. The civil administration of all provinces was then transferred to the Mahatthai, the Kalahom minister was given responsibility for the defense and administration of the military throughout the country. After this reorganization, the Mahatthai Ministry could be referred to as the Ministry of Interior and the Kalahom became the Ministry of Defense. The first defense minister in the modern sense was Prince Narisara Nuwattiwong , a half-brother of the king , from 1894 to 1899 .
The ministry was initially housed in a former horse and elephant stable opposite the Grand Palace in Bangkok , but a representative building in European style was later built opposite Wat Phra Kaeo .
The Department of Defense today
The Ministry of Defense is headed by the minister who is a member of the cabinet. There is also a deputy minister and a state secretary (Plat) . The latter is always an active general in the Thai armed forces. According to the Constitution of 2017 , the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense is also a member of the Senate of Thailand by virtue of office . He is supported by a secretariat, which is responsible for handling administrative tasks. There are also the commanders in chief of the armed forces and the Joint General Staff, which includes representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The headquarters of the Ministry is in a representative complex on Sanamchai Street on Rattanakosin Island, the immediate center of Bangkok's old town. It is opposite the Grand Palace with Wat Phra Kaeo , Sanam Luang and the shrine with the city column ( Lak Mueang ) of Bangkok. The cannon museum is also located on the site.
literature
- HG Quaritch Wales: Ancient Siamese Government and Administration . London 1934, Reprint by Paragon Book, New York 1965.
- Sarasin Viraphol: "Law in Traditional Siam and China: a Comparative Sudy". In: Journal of the Siam Society , January 1977, Volume 65, Part 1. The Siam Society , Bangkok 1977, siamese-heritage.org (PDF; 5.8 MB); Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- David K. Wyatt: Thailand: a short history . Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1984, ISBN 974-7047-44-6 .
Web links
- Ministry of Defense of Thailand (accessed January 21, 2014)
- The History of Thailand's Administration ( Memento from July 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Page of the Department of Provincial Administration - DOPA (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wyatt (2003), p. 63
- ^ Wales: Ancient Siamese Government and Administration , p. 114
- ^ Tej Bunnag: "The Provincial Administration of Siam 1892-1915". Oxford University Press 1978, ISBN 0-19-580343-4