A lieutenant general with close ties to Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has been promoted to assistant army chief.
This gives 1st Army Area chief Apirat Kongsompong -- who is expected to rise to assistant army chief in the upcoming reshuffle and is a likely candidate for army chief next year -- a run for his money, according to a top-level military source.
Lt Gen Thaweechai Inthusophon, chief of the Territorial Defence Command, is poised for promotion to assistant army chief, one of the five most powerful posts in the army, in the upcoming high-ranking military reshuffle.
The armed forces have submitted their reshuffle lists to the defence permanent secretary, who will forward them to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha through Gen Prawit.
The source said Lt Gen Thaweechai -- who at one point had worked under Gen Prawit at the Prachin Buri-based 2nd Infantry Division, the Queen's Guard -- retires in 2019.
With his promotion, he has emerged as a potential candidate for the army chief post next year when the incumbent chief goes into mandatory retirement. However, Lt Gen Thaweechai could also be competing for the top army seat with Lt Gen Apirat, who is also becoming assistant army chief and was earlier speculated to be a strong candidate to replace army chief Chalermchai Sitthisad.
Lt Gen Apirat has three more years in service before his retirement in 2020. According to the source, he is likely to be replaced as 1st Army Area commander by Lt Gen Kukiat Srinaka, currently chief of the 1st Army Corps.
Speculation is rife that Lt Gen Kukiat will be succeeded as head of the 1st Army Corps by his deputy, Maj Gen Santipong Thammapiya, whose rank will be elevated to a lieutenant general.
Another coveted post is chief of the 2nd Army Area. Potential candidates include 2nd Army Corps chief Lt Gen Sakda Perunawin, who has the capability but not the connections, and Maj Gen Tharathorn Thammawinthorn, deputy commander of the 2nd Army Area.
Maj Gen Tharathorn is thought to have made achievements during a border standoff with Cambodia during the height of the Preah Vihear temple dispute.