The cabinet has approved an early retirement programme for senior military officers, from the rank of colonel and up, with incentives including 7-10 times their last monthly salary.
The Ministry of Defence has said the programme would be carried out over the next three years, deputy government spokeswoman Kenika Ounjit said on Tuesday.
The scheme is part of a plan to downsize and streamline the armed forces in the interests of efficiency. It will begin this month, so that all the necessary procures for retirement will be completed by Sept 30, the date when state officials normally retire.
The ministry has been working to cut the number of senior military officers working as operational specialists since 2008.
In 2020, it set out to further downsize the armed forces as a whole by an additional 5%, said Ms Kenika.
The ministry has set a target for 732 officers to accept early retirement from fiscal 2025-27, or 244 per year. This could result in a budget saving of 4.48 billion baht, she said.
The target groups are military officers holding the rank of captain, group captain, colonel or higher, who serve as special experts, as well as operational officers aged over 50 years old and with at least 25 years of service.
Eligible candidates must have at least two years of service remaining from the programme’s start date.
Benefits include a lump sum payout — the candidate’s last monthly salary and position allowance multiplied by seven to 10 times, said Ms Kenika.
The ministry will set aside 600 million baht for the scheme, or 200 million baht a year.
In March, Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang said the Defence Council agreed to an initial phase of downsizing the armed forces during the 2025–27 fiscal years.
There are more than 700 military generals who do not hold key positions at the ministry but serve as specialists. That number will be reduced by 50% or about 380 by 2027, he said.
If the number of senior officers in the army, navy and air force were combined with those serving at the ministry, there would be more than 1,400 of them, he said.