Editing Royal Thai Armed Forces (section)

=== Current developments ===
[[File:Royal Thai Army soldiers in woods 2006.jpg|thumb|200px|Thai and US Army Soldiers practice tactical manoeuvres during exercise [[Cobra Gold]] 2006 in [[Lop Buri]].]]

====Thai military deputized as police====
On 29 March 2016, in a move that the ''Bangkok Post'' said will "...will inflict serious and long-term damage...", the [[National Council for Peace and Order|NCPO]], under a Section 44 order (NCPO Order 13/2559) signed by junta chief [[Prayut Chan-o-cha]], granted to commissioned officers of the Royal Thai Armed Forces broad police powers to suppress and arrest anyone they suspect of criminal activity without a warrant and detain them secretly at almost any location without charge for up to seven days. Bank accounts can be frozen, and documents and property can be seized. Travel can be banned. Automatic immunity for military personnel has been built into the order, and there is no independent oversight or recourse in the event of abuse. The order came into immediate effect. The net result is that the military will have more power than the police and less oversight.<ref name="BP-20160401">{{cite news|title=Affront to justice system |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/917813/affront-to-justice-system|access-date=4 April 2016|work=Bangkok Post|date=2016-04-01|department=Editorial}}</ref>

The government has stated that the purpose of this order is to enable military officers to render their assistance in an effort to "...suppress organized crimes such as extortion, human trafficking, child and labor abuses, gambling, prostitution, illegal tour guide services, price collusion, and firearms. It neither aims to stifle nor intimidate dissenting voices. Defendants in such cases will go through normal judicial process, with police as the main investigator...trial[s] will be conducted in civilian courts, not military ones. Moreover, this order does not deprive the right of the defendants to file complaints against military officers who have abused their power."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Dissemination of the Final Constitution Draft and the issuance of the Head of the NCPO's Order No. 13/2559|url=http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/66031-The-Dissemination-of-the-Final-Constitution-Draft.html|access-date=4 April 2016|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand|date=2016-04-03|type=Press release|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413120956/http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/66031-The-Dissemination-of-the-Final-Constitution-Draft.html|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The NCPO said that the reason for its latest order is that there are simply not enough police, in spite of the fact that there are about 230,000 officers in the [[Royal Thai Police]] force. They make up about 17 percent of all non-military public servants. This amounts to 344 police officers for every for every 100,000 persons in Thailand, more than twice the ratio in Myanmar and the Philippines, one and a half times that of Japan and Indonesia and roughly the same proportion as the United States.<ref name="BP-20160403">{{cite news|title=In the dark on army's shadowy powers  |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/919337/in-the-dark-on-armys-shadowy-powers|access-date=4 April 2016|work=Bangkok Post|date=2016-04-03|department=Editorial}}</ref>

In a joint statement released on 5 April 2016, six groups, including [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW), [[Amnesty International]], and the [[International Commission of Jurists]] (ICJ), condemned the move.<ref>{{cite news|title=Giving soldiers police powers 'wrong': human rights groups|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Giving-soldiers-police-powers-wrong-human-rights-g-30283331.html|access-date=5 April 2016|work=The Nation|agency=Agence France Presse|date=2016-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408085338/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Giving-soldiers-police-powers-wrong-human-rights-g-30283331.html|archive-date=8 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

====Corruption====
The ''[[Asia Sentinel]]'' in 2014 called the Thai military one of the most deeply corrupt militaries in Asia.<ref name="AS-20140820">{{cite news |title=Thailand's Crooked Army |url=https://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/thailand-crooked-army/ |access-date=26 September 2018 |work=Asia Sentinel |date=2014-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926211037/https://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/thailand-crooked-army/ |archive-date=26 September 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>  The Thai armed forces have a history of procurement scandals and dodgy dealings dating back to at least the 1980s.<ref name="AS-20140820" />

*In the 1980s, the army bought hundreds of substandard armored personnel carriers (APC) from the Chinese that were so shoddy that light was visible through the welds securing the armor plate.<ref name="AS-20140820"/>
*The Thai air force bought Chinese jets with short-lived engines so delicate that the planes were towed to the flight line for takeoff and towed back on landing in order to minimize engine hours.<ref name="AS-20140820"/>
*In 1997, the [[HTMS Chakri Naruebet|HTMS ''Chakri Naruebet'']] aircraft carrier was commissioned. Due to its lackluster operational history, the Thai media have nicknamed the ship "Thai-tanic", and consider her to be a [[white elephant]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bishop |first=Chris |author2=Chant, Christopher |title=Aircraft Carriers: the world's greatest naval vessels and their aircraft |year=2004 |publisher=MBI |location=London |isbn=0-7603-2005-5 |oclc=56646560 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY8CvlKC7kgC |access-date=26 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324145739/https://books.google.com/books?id=PY8CvlKC7kgC |archive-date=24 March 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |page=88 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=William M. |author2=Wiencek, David G. |title=Asian Security Handbook 2000 |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7656-0715-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Dc665HSo_0C |access-date=26 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111113807/http://books.google.com/books?id=_Dc665HSo_0C |archive-date=11 January 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |page=302 }}</ref>
*The Aeros 40D S/N 21 airship, nicknamed "Sky Dragon", was purchased for 350 million baht in 2009.<ref name=BP-20170915>{{cite news |last1=Nanuam |first1=Wassana |title=Military finally dumps B350m airship |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/1324367/military-finally-dumps-b350m-airship |access-date=26 September 2018 |work=Bangkok Post |date=2017-09-15}}</ref> It cost 2.8 million baht to inflate and 280,000 baht a month to keep inflated.<ref name="AS-20140820"/> It served for eight years, mostly in storage, and crashed once. The present leadership of the NCPO was instrumental in approving its purchase.<ref name=BP-20170915/>