The military cannot be trusted II

Back in mid-October, we warned that the military cannot be trusted. That was in part prompted by the manner in which the media was blindly reproducing military stories about the border dispute with Cambodia.

But when we posted about self-promoting royalist and ultra-nationalist Guntouch Pongpaiboonwet, while referring to his close relationship with convicted heroin trafficker Thammanat Prompao, Minister for Agriculture in the gangster government. we didn’t say much about his activities with the military.

Thai Enquirer fills in the gap and adds to our claim that the military spokespersons should never be believed without adequate triangulation to reliable news and analysis.

When first asked if they were receiving “donations” from Guntouch, the Royal Thai Army denied any such relationship.

A day or so later, with evidence produced, the same Royal Thai Army has confirmed the relationship.

Army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said the donation was verified to have been made to both Border Patrol Police and ranger forces. has admitted that ultranationalist activist Guntouch “Gun Jompalang” Pongpaiboonwet provided Level 4 ballistic plates to frontline units, as questions mount in Parliament over the military’s resource management and transparency.

Army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said the “donation was verified to have been made to both Border Patrol Police and ranger forces.”

That confirmation came after “Guntouch’s Facebook page which shared a document issued by a government agency requesting 250 Level 4 armor plates for troops stationed along the Thai–Cambodian border.”

That was picked up by People’s Party MPs Chayaphon Satondee, Rukchanok Srinork, and Ekkarach Udomumnouy who raised concerns about the “conflicting statements from the military and Guntouch, whose foundation raised funds to supply protective gear to soldiers.”

From Thai Enquirer

Guntouch has:

maintained that his foundation coordinated with local authorities and civilians under martial law to support emergency operations. He said some requests were made informally via Line messages to ensure swift response, citing the case of 250 Level 4 ballistic panels purchased through direct transfer to a private company for delivery to military units.

The People’s Party babbled about strengthening the military, sounding as ultra-nationalist as any in the gangster government they put in place, but as Andrew Marshall points out in a Facebook post, this very equipment is supposed to be banned for civilians. It seems that Gun’s connections higher up provide impunity. At least for the moment, for the higher ups gladly sacrifice useful idiots.