Three senior army leaders, who are also cabinet members, are facing calls for them to relinquish their army posts before their mandatory retirement so they can concentrate better on their ministerial duties.
Gen Thirachai, left, and Gen Preecha must tread carefully to avoid being dragged into conflicts over their rivalry for the top army post.
As a result, the spotlight has turned on two assistant army chiefs — Gen Thirachai Nakhawanich and Gen Preecha Chan-o-cha, who is Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's younger brother.
The three active army leaders who are also cabinet members are army chief Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, who doubles as deputy defence minister, deputy army chief Gen Chatchai Sarikulya, who concurrently serves as commerce minister, and Deputy Supreme Commander Gen Paiboon Koomchaya, who has a dual role as justice minister.
All three will retire from the army at the end of September this year.
The post of deputy army chief being held by Gen Chatchai is a case in point.
If either of the two assistant army chiefs is promoted to be deputy army chief, it is only a matter of time before one of them becomes army commander, according to a military affairs analyst.
In term of seniority, Gen Thirachai, who was from Class 14 at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, has the edge over Gen Preecha, who was from Class 15.
But the mandatory retirement date for the pair is the same — Sept 30, 2016.
Both also enjoy extraordinary "backup". Gen Thirachai has close ties with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, while Gen Preecha is a younger brother of Gen Prayut, who leads the National Council for Peace and Order.
All of them are from the Burapha Phayak (Tigers of the East) faction, with Gen Prawit dubbed by the media as the "big brother" of the powerful military clique.
Observers believe that "blood is thicker than water" and it would not be a spectacular surprise if Gen Prayut was to support his brother all the way through to become army chief.
However, a source from the Burapha Phayak faction said Gen Thirachai is tipped to succeed Gen Udomdej, when he retires as army chief.
Gen Preecha is tipped to become permanent secretary for defence, replacing Gen Sirichai Ditthakul, who, like the army chief, also retires this September, the source said.
A former commander of the 3rd Army, which oversees security in the North, Gen Preecha has become the focal point of attention in military quarters after Gen Prayut's rise to power.
But if promoted to become army chief, Gen Preecha will make history as the first army officer based in the North to lead the army, and he will also be another army leader from the Chan-o-cha family.
But things could boil down to an agreement between Gen Prawit and Gen Prayut, the source said.
"Anyone who can be of utmost benefit to the army will be chosen," Gen Prawit previously said when asked to comment about his preferred choice for new army chief.
As for Gen Prayut, he said he did not care who succeeded him. Even an army chief is only army personnel and the appointment must follow legal proceedings, he said.
Gen Thirachai and Gen Preecha must therefore tread carefully to avoid being dragged into conflicts over their rivalry for the top army post.
In light of this, they feel the need to communicate with each other more often to prevent any misunderstandings due to rumours.
"We normally talk like brothers. We play golf together if we have time," Gen Thirachai said.
Rising from rock bottom
Life as a police officer can be a roller coaster ride for many, including Pol Col Surachet Hakpan, the deputy commander of patrol and special operations at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB).
More precisely, the police colonel's career hit rock bottom when he was investigated for a gross disciplinary violation in connection with karaoke parlour bribery when Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree was national police chief several years ago.
The investigation raised many eyebrows as Pol Col Surachet was reportedly close to Pol Gen Wichean, having served in a capacity akin to his personal secretary.
It was, as some observers put it, a case of the boss coming down hard on a trusted aide.
However, Pol Col Surachet refused to take the accusation lying down. He fought the bribery allegation in the disciplinary probe and was cleared of any involvement in the alleged crime.
He also took the complainant in the bribery case to court for tarnishing his reputation and won the judgement.
Pol Col Surachet filed a separate malfeasance charge in court against Pol Gen Wichean and other senior police officers linked to the disciplinary order issued against him. The case is still pending in court.
After clearing his name and a few changes of government later, Pol Col Surachet is back in the picture and he appears to be advancing rapidly up the career ladder. He is thought to have solid backing from high-ranking officials.
On Jan 15, Pol Col Surachet was shifted from deputy commander of the Songkhla provincial police to the post of deputy commander of patrol and special operations at the MPB.
Although the change was deemed by some police insiders as technically being a seat swap, given that he jumped from one deputy commander post to another, the new post nonetheless represents brighter career prospects since supervising patrol and special operations at the city police bureau brings with it significant responsibilities and gives the police colonel a higher profile.
The MPB is in charge of crime prevention and suppression in Bangkok and is also where officers with strong connections to prominent senior police officers and powerful politicians work.
A source in the police force said Pol Col Surachet is thriving with the support of all-important figures; Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon and national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang.
Pol Col Surachet is well-liked by many respected figures, including those outside of the police force. The secret to his popularity stems from his exceptional ability to work with people from different agencies, which gives him an edge over other fellow officers of his class, the source said.
Pol Col Surachet is also known to have had some kind of influence over the reshuffles of some key deputy police commanders and chief inspectors. He has been dubbed the "little national police chief".
The source added that before major police reshuffles, he acted as a line of communication between Gen Prawit and Pol Gen Somyot when top-level considerations had to be made regarding who got what in the shake-up.
The source said Pol Col Surachet is living proof that when one is down it doesn't always mean you are out.
Falling out over Yingluck
The rice-pledging scandal has come to a head with the much-anticipated impeachment of former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and also her indictment in the Supreme Court.
Yingluck: Suffers double rice scheme blow.
Along the way, the saga has exposed conflicts between agencies and had the curious digging for possible close ties between people during the course of the many inquiries set up to investigate possibly the country's most controversial and costliest rice-related policy.
Although the impeachment proceedings in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) against Ms Yingluck are well and truly over, the former prime minister faces a more daunting legal challenge as she braces for a trial in the Supreme Court on the same charge as the impeachment case — negligence of duty while serving as prime minister by letting alleged corruption occur in the rice scheme.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigated and filed the charge against Ms Yingluck but the indictment came via the Attorney-General.
Prosecutors, however, earlier declined to indict Ms Yingluck, arguing the NACC needed to gather more information from witnesses.
The NACC and the prosecutors had set up a joint panel to work on the case together.
Although the NACC insisted it reserved the right to "go it alone" by forwarding the case directly to the Supreme Court, before it could do that, prosecutors had to announce outright that they would not indict Ms Yingluck. However, the prosecutors kept tight lipped for weeks, leaving the case more or less stalled.
Last week, conflict between the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) and the NACC intensified when the OAG denied the graftbusters' statement that their joint panel had finally decided to press the criminal charge against Ms Yingluck.
Deputy Attorney-General Wuthipong Wiboonwong, as the joint panel chairman and the OAG team head, was quick to deny that any charges were to be laid, insisting the joint panel was still gathering additional information and evidence to complete its investigation.
Mr Wuthipong stressed that even though he headed the OAG delegation at the joint meetings, he was not aware that any agreement between prosecutors and the NACC had been reached.
He also denied the NACC's claim that the joint panel meeting in which the indictment decision was supposed to have been made, was the last one.
Mr Wuthipong maintained that a further meeting of the panel was scheduled to take place.
However, Ms Yingluck fate was sealed yesterday when the NLA decided by a vote of 190 in favour to impeach her. She is effectively banned from politics for five years. Shortly before that, the Office of the Attorney-General had announced its decision to indict her in the Supreme Court.
A look at Mr Wuthipong's background showed he and Ms Yingluck studied together on a course at the Capital Market Academy in 2009 before Ms Yingluck entered politics. She was at the time president and CEO of SC Asset Corporation, the flagship property developer of the Shinawatra family. Ms Yingluck was also president of the alumni of the programme.
After Ms Yingluck became prime minister 2011, Mr Wuthipong was appointed a board member of many state enterprises.
He was an executive on the board of the Government Savings Bank which loaned to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to increase the bank's liquidity.
The BAAC was the prime lending agent in the rice-pledging scheme.
With Ms Yingluck dealt a double whammy, observers are watching closely to see whether this will have any ripple effect on the political landscape of the country.