The Bangkok Post
Monday August 11, 2008
Costs have been rising for everyone lately, but the nation's elected representatives should take a long and careful look at the new request for funds by the armed forces. In testimony late last month to a House committee, senior officers said the military needs 169 billion baht for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct 1. That is about 26 billion more than the current year, or nearly 18%. And this year's budget of 143 billion baht is a full 60% higher than fiscal 2006, thanks to the largesse of the government installed by the military coup.
Now inflation is high, but no employee or civil servant will be getting a raise that works out to about 51% in two years. Thus far, the commanding generals, admirals and air marshals have been quite vague about what they will do with such a large budget rise.
Defence Ministry permanent secretary Gen Vinai Patthiyakul told the special House budget committee that an internal study showed that Thai military power was rated ''a bit lower than Singapore and South Korea''. But neither of those countries borders Thailand or poses a threat.
Compared with Laos and Cambodia, Thai forces rate ''a bit higher''. One certainly hopes so. Laos has about 29,000 troops using Indochina war-era weapons, spending the equivalent of 470 million baht. Cambodia's total armed forces of perhaps 100,000 men account for a budget equivalent of 4.5 billion baht.
While spending does not always parallel effectiveness, there clearly is no comparison between the capabilities of the Thai armed forces, with more than 200,000 men and women on active duty or in paramilitary forces on instant call.
The military, rightly, has a special place in the nation's budget, just as it has a special place in the nation. It defends the Thai borders, and there is no more sacred duty. The armed forces play a vital role in society, and have frequently been called on to sacrifice at home and abroad. At the same time, however, the military is subject to government control. The national treasury is limited, and both the government and parliament must oversee a huge number of programmes that are important to the country.
Gen Vinai and the commanders of each of the armed forces told the budget committee that equipment is wearing out, and both maintenance and new weapons are needed. But an important part of managing the military in peacetime is keeping supplies in the pipeline, exactly so that taxpayers can afford the bill.
The army and air force have also been coy about how they have used 38 billion baht out of this year's huge budget increase. The deal to buy 96 armoured cars from Ukraine was pushed through with undue and even unseemly haste. It was hard to imagine a more suspect, opaque purchase _ until the air force bought 12 combat aircraft from the Swedish firm Gripen International. No senior officer or defence minister showed up to explain to the country or to parliament just why these cars and planes were necessary, and the funding was shrouded in mystery.
The military needs to be far more cooperative and accountable in explaining its budget. The country will not let the armed forces down when it needs manpower, equipment or money. But neither can taxpayers afford to simply hand over whatever commanders want, with no explanation.
Like the Foreign Ministry, the military should appear before parliament and justify its request for a massive spending increase.
Monday August 11, 2008
Costs have been rising for everyone lately, but the nation's elected representatives should take a long and careful look at the new request for funds by the armed forces. In testimony late last month to a House committee, senior officers said the military needs 169 billion baht for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct 1. That is about 26 billion more than the current year, or nearly 18%. And this year's budget of 143 billion baht is a full 60% higher than fiscal 2006, thanks to the largesse of the government installed by the military coup.
Now inflation is high, but no employee or civil servant will be getting a raise that works out to about 51% in two years. Thus far, the commanding generals, admirals and air marshals have been quite vague about what they will do with such a large budget rise.
Defence Ministry permanent secretary Gen Vinai Patthiyakul told the special House budget committee that an internal study showed that Thai military power was rated ''a bit lower than Singapore and South Korea''. But neither of those countries borders Thailand or poses a threat.
Compared with Laos and Cambodia, Thai forces rate ''a bit higher''. One certainly hopes so. Laos has about 29,000 troops using Indochina war-era weapons, spending the equivalent of 470 million baht. Cambodia's total armed forces of perhaps 100,000 men account for a budget equivalent of 4.5 billion baht.
While spending does not always parallel effectiveness, there clearly is no comparison between the capabilities of the Thai armed forces, with more than 200,000 men and women on active duty or in paramilitary forces on instant call.
The military, rightly, has a special place in the nation's budget, just as it has a special place in the nation. It defends the Thai borders, and there is no more sacred duty. The armed forces play a vital role in society, and have frequently been called on to sacrifice at home and abroad. At the same time, however, the military is subject to government control. The national treasury is limited, and both the government and parliament must oversee a huge number of programmes that are important to the country.
Gen Vinai and the commanders of each of the armed forces told the budget committee that equipment is wearing out, and both maintenance and new weapons are needed. But an important part of managing the military in peacetime is keeping supplies in the pipeline, exactly so that taxpayers can afford the bill.
The army and air force have also been coy about how they have used 38 billion baht out of this year's huge budget increase. The deal to buy 96 armoured cars from Ukraine was pushed through with undue and even unseemly haste. It was hard to imagine a more suspect, opaque purchase _ until the air force bought 12 combat aircraft from the Swedish firm Gripen International. No senior officer or defence minister showed up to explain to the country or to parliament just why these cars and planes were necessary, and the funding was shrouded in mystery.
The military needs to be far more cooperative and accountable in explaining its budget. The country will not let the armed forces down when it needs manpower, equipment or money. But neither can taxpayers afford to simply hand over whatever commanders want, with no explanation.
Like the Foreign Ministry, the military should appear before parliament and justify its request for a massive spending increase.
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