Army chief picked 4th army region commander out of "gentlemen’s promise"

There was  nothing wrong when Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the other day that he had the right to appoint any senior army officer to be the commander of the 4th Army Region to deal with the unrest problem in the Deep South because he is the army C-in-C.

          Even if the officer nominated to replace 4th Army Region commander Lt-Gen Sakol Chuentrakul who is to move up as a full five-star general is not familiar with the southern situation at all, General Prayuth insisted that he knew the best about the military reshuffle and that soldiers must be able to perform their duties anywhere.

          The above remark was made by General Prayuth at a press conference on March 17 during which he was asked if Lt-Gen Walit  Rojanapakdi, commander of the First Army Corp, was to be named the commander of the 4th Army Region.

          There was nothing wrong with General Prayuth’s remark.  Likewise, it was not unusual that his decision regarding Lt-Gen Walit’s appointment came under criticism from within the army and also from the restive region.

          It was reported that Lt-Gen Sakol had nominated his deputy, Maj-Gen Prakarn Cholayuth (Class 15 of the Pre-military Academy), to replace him.  Maj-Gen Prakarn used to be the commander of the Yala Task force and was widely recognized for his capability.

          However, it was reported that General Prayuth has had a "gentlemen’s promise"  with Lt-Gen Walit that the latter will be given a post as a regional army commander.

          The “gentlemen’s promise” was  made by the army chief after Lt-Gen Walit, an officer of the Burapha Payak (Eastern Tiger), twice missed out from being promoted as the commander of the First Army Region.  The post was instead given to then Lt-Gen Paibul Khumchaya in 2012 and then to  Lt-Gen Thirachai Narkvanich in 2013.

          It should be noted that in 2010, Walit, then commander of the Second Infantry Division of the Royal Guards, commanded his troops to deal with red-shirt protesters at Kok Wua intersection during which he suffered a broken leg from a bomb explosion.  Then Colonel Romklao Phuvatham was killed.

          Lt-Gen Walit has since been blacklisted by the red-shirt movement and attempts have been made to thwart his rise up the ladder to the key post in the army.

          Nevertheless,when General Prayuth finally nominated Lt-Gen Walit as commander of the 4th Army Region, he was heavily criticized for attaching more importance on "gentle’s men promise" than on suitability because Lt-Gen Walit is considered a new face in the restive region.

          Lt-Gen Walit’s nomination has left out in the cold a handful of veterans of the Deep South namely Lt-Gen Kitti Inthasorn, the deputy commander, who was to move out of the region to become assistant army chief-of-staff, and Maj-Gen Noppawong Suravichai.

          One important mission of the commander of the 4th Army Region is to support the peace talks process which is expected to be carried on by the new government.  It is fortunate that Lt-Gen Walit will have an assistant who is familiar with the issue that is Maj-Gen Charin Amornkaew, the deputy commander.

          There was no doubt that General Prayuth had the final say to pick his choice.  But should he take into consideration the feelings of the officers who also deserved to get promoted but who were overlooked because they were not accorded "gentlemen’s promise".

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Caption : Lt-Gen Walit  Rojanapakdi