By DPA
Bangkok : Thailand’s military will return to the barracks after the upcoming Dec 23 general election and not interfere in the next government, Junta Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratkaline vowed Friday in a speech marking the anniversary of last year’s coup.
“Those of us who are scheduled to retire will take a rest and the military will return to its normal duties. We will be professional soldiers,” Sonthi told a press conference marking the anniversary of the Sep 19 coup he led against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Sonthi is due to retire on Sep 30, making way for General Anupong Paochinda as army commander-in-chief and head of the Council of Nation Security (CNS) as the junta has styled itself. Thailand has experienced 18 successful military coups over the past 75 years, and half a dozen failed putsches.
Political analysts have welcomed the choice of Anupong as the new army head as he is deemed a professional soldier without political ambitions.
After staging the Sep 19 coup to topple Thaksin on charges of corruption and dividing the nation, Sonthi vowed to restore democracy to Thailand before the end of this year. A general election is now scheduled for Dec 23.
“The future of the elected government looks good, efficient and strong,” said Sonthi, addressing what he called his last press conference. “And the military does not want to interfere with it.”
The outgoing army commander confirmed that the military would go ahead with the purchase of 96 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) at the cost of four billion baht ($118.7 million) from Ukraine.
But Sonthi said the APCs will not be sent to the deep south, where the military is fighting a separatist movement in the three provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
Last July, Thailand opted for Ukraine’s BTR-3EI model over eight other bids from Canada, China, Russia and elsewhere.
He said the APCs would be stationed in Prachinburi on the Thai-Cambodian border.
The general claimed that the military has made progress in quelling the insurgency in the south, where some 2,500 people have died in the violence since January 2004.
“Our military and political strategies have succeed in the south,” said Sonthi, citing an increase in arrests, weapons seizures and greater assistance from the local population over the last year.
Earlier this month, however, Sonthi acknowledged that the conflict would probably take 20 years to be completely resolved.