The high-level military reshuffle which received royal endorsement on Sunday is the first for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in her new role as defence minister.
Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra walks with military top brass at a birthday party for Privy Council president and statesman Gen Prem Tinsulanonda at his Sisao Thewes residence on Aug 25. (Photo by Wassana Nanuam)
The reshuffle is seen as an act of generosity shown by the country's first female defence minister towards the military.
The shake-up involves 861 senior military figures being reassigned to different posts, the largest number high-level military reshuffle in terms of numbers.
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A total of 215 new generals have been appointed, with 120 generalsfor the army, 48 for the office of the permanent secretary for defence, 47 for the Supreme Command.
There are 46 admirals for the navy and 64 air marshals for the air force. These figures include 37 senior female officers.
It seems the entire armed forces are now buzzing with excitement and messages of congratulation.
The army chief, Prayuth Chan-ocha, explained that the new appointments are intended to replace many generals who will retire by the end of this month, although the scale of the appointments is seen as running counter to the armed forces' policy of downsizing the military.
Some believe the reshuffle is yet another effort by Ms Yingluck to try to please the military.
Observers noted that the large number of new generals in this reshuffle is also due to the government under former premier Samak Sundaravej - who also doubled as defence minister - approving position allowances worth 800 million baht annually for the armed forces.
Even though nearly all the names in the reshuffle list were recommendations of military commanders in the armed forces, politics still played a role in some appointments.
Specifically, assistant army chief-of-staff Lt Gen Walit Rojanapakdi, who was widely tipped to be promoted to be the 1st Army Commander, will have to settle for the post of 1st Army Corps commander.
The army's deputy chief-of-staff Thirachai Nakwanich has been chosen to take the post instead.
Sources said this was because the red shirts were unhappy to see Lt Gen Walit elevated to lead the 1st Army as they still hold grudges against him. As the man in charge of crowd-dispersal operations, Lt Gen Walit was the target of red-shirt anger during protests in 2009 and 2010.
At the time, Maj Gen Walit was commander of the 2nd Infantry Division and assigned to clear red-shirt demonstrators from Din Daeng intersection in Bangkok on April 12-13, 2009. The following year, he again led his unit to disperse red-shirt protesters at Kok Wua intersection during clashes between demonstrators and security forces on April 10, 2010. He was seriously injured when grenades were fired during the clashes.
However, Gen Prayuth insisted the red shirts had not pressured the force over the appointment of the 1st Army Commander.
Gen Prayuth said when it comes to seniority, which is also a factor in the military reshuffle, Lt Gen Thirachai is the correct choice. Gen Thirachai is a Class 14 graduate of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (Afaps) while Lt Gen Walit is a Class 15 graduate.
The reshuffle has also seen the rise of many other former graduates of Class 14 of the Afaps.
Chief among them is deputy permanent secretary for defence Gen Nipat Thonglek, who has become the new defence permanent secretary with his tenure running until 2016.
Gen Nipat was backed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as the successor to Gen Thanongsak Apirakyothin, who will retire at the end of this month.
Ms Yingluck not only supported him to be the new defence permanent secretary despite resistance, but she has also authorised him to reassign personnel at the office of the defence permanent secretary as well as to pick a team of staff officers to the defence minister.