The much-awaited fifth reshuffle of the Prayut Chan-o-cha government was announced late on Friday and although many had anticipated a deeper reduction in the number of men in uniform, the fact that a quarter of these men in green were let go was in itself an achievement.
The public may be disappointed that the number of men in uniform decreased by only three from 12 in the previous cabinet line-up. Those asked to bow out were the deputy defence minister, Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, and two deputy prime ministers, Gen Tanasak Patimapragorn and Adm Narong Pipatanasai.
The axeing of these former heads of various arms of the military can be seen as a very positive step for the gradual transition of Thailand towards a more democratic society, ignoring the fact that these three men have had very little success in their positions since the coup of May 2014.
Umesh Pandey Is Editor, Bangkok Post.
The only disappointment was that the much-anticipated departure of Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chatchai Sarikulya has been to a much higher position of deputy prime minister. Gen Chatchai, a close friend of our dear leader, was blamed for the problems of the farming community.
Among others who were rumoured to be on the chopping block but survived was Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda, whose many controversial decisions have put the spotlight on him and his ministry.
The emphasis of this cabinet reshuffle seems to be to push the economic agenda. Many of the people taken on board were either working in the private sector or have had experience in spurring the economy.
The changes impacted as many as 18 positions in the 36-member cabinet. Out of these 10 were newcomers with a lot of emphasis on ways to boost economic growth and help make Thailand more competitive in the near future.
Economic growth is at its highest level for more than four years, largely driven by exports. The latest data show that exports for the first 10 months of the year grew by 9.7% year on year and are on track to hit double-digit growth for the full year.
With such a robust export sector, why was Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn ejected from the cabinet? The answer may lay in the statement made by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak on Monday when he said that as much as 100 billion baht would be injected into local administration organisations to boost the economy in 2018.
Mr Somkid, whose expertise is behind recent economic growth, said that despite the economy growing at 4% there has been no trickle-down effect on the grassroots economy.
This is one of the biggest criticisms that the government has been facing -- that it has been looking at the overall numbers and that people in poorer communities have been left out.
The latest reshuffle will try to resolve this problem. Ms Apiradi, whose expertise was in international trade, has helped spur the export sector, but what is now needed is to boost the domestic economy in order for the military to make any significant return if and when elections are held in 2018.
Sontirat Sontijirawong, who takes on the role of commerce minister, has had experience in helping the domestic economy from his various work roles. Kobsak Pootrakool, a vice minister at the Office of the Prime Minister, will now also serve as a PM's Office minister. Mr Kobsak has had vast experience in the private sector.
One of the other surprise changes was the appointment of Weerasak Kowsurat, a tourism and sports minister during the Somchai Wongsawat administration, to replace Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who left her job in tears.
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry was strengthened with the appointment of Grisada Boonrach, the former interior permanent secretary. His portfolio was strengthened with the appointment of former Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives president Luck Wajananawat as deputy agriculture minister.
What Gen Prayut has done by bringing in experts from various fields, including the likes of former PTT Plc president Pailin Chuchottaworn as deputy transport minister, has been to inject some experts into his cabinet to speed things up.
It is our only hope that the new team take a cue from Mr Somkid's good work. Even if this feel-good factor is aimed at possible elections, at least people can be happy that there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for democracy.