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Royal Thai Army
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The Royal Thai Army ( is the army of Thailand responsible for protecting its sovereignty. It is the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. The army was formed in 1874, partly as a response to new security threats following the Bowring Treaty with Britain, which opened up the country for international trade.
Command and Control
The Royal Thai Army is commanded by the Commander of the Royal Thai Army (????????????????????); the current Commander is General Anupong Paochinda, who was appointed in 2007.
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Encyclopedia
The Royal Thai Army ( is the army of Thailand responsible for protecting its sovereignty. It is the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. The army was formed in 1874, partly as a response to new security threats following the Bowring Treaty with Britain, which opened up the country for international trade.
History
Command and Control
The Royal Thai Army is commanded by the Commander of the Royal Thai Army (????????????????????); the current Commander is General Anupong Paochinda, who was appointed in 2007. The Royal Thai Army Headquarters is located in a building on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Commander-in-Chief: General Anupong Paochinda
- Deputy Commander-in-Chief: General Jiradech Kotcharat
- Assistant Commander-in-Chief: General Theerawat Boonyapradap
- Assistant Commander-in-Chief: Lt. General Viroj Buacharoon
- Chief of Staff of the Army: Lt. General Prayuth Jan-ocha
List of Commanders
Organisation
Field Organization
The Royal Thai Army is divided into 4 Army Regions:
- First Army Region - headquartered in Bangkok and is responsible for the country's western and central provinces including the capital city.
- 1st, 2nd, 9th and 11th infantry divisions, and
- 1st Development division.
- Second Army Region - headquartered in Nakhon Ratchasima and is responsible for the northeastern quadrant.
- 3rd, 6th and 12th infantry divisions, and
- 2nd Development divisions.
- Third Army Region - headquartered in Phitsanulok, responsible for the northern and northwestern parts of the kingdom.
- 4th infantry division,
- 1st armor division, and
- 3rd development division.
- Fourth Army Region - headquartered in Nakhon Si Thammarat, responsible for southern Thailand.
- 5th infantry division, and
- 4th development division.
Tactical units
Altogether the army is organized into the following Tactical Units:
- 7 infantry divisions (including 5 tank battalions),
- 1 armoured division,
- 1 cavalry division (a light armour division),
- 2 special forces divisions trained and geared for small unit special and airborne operations,
- 1 field artillery division, and
- 1 air defense artillery division.
- 8 independent infantry battalions,
- 3 airmobile companies provided the ground force units with battlefield support.
The Royal Thai Army also controls at least one television network, the Thai Global Network.
Royal Guards
The Royal Guards were established by King Chulalongkorn the Great of Thailand in 1859, when he was still crown prince. Initially, the Royal Guards were servants with duties such as scaring crows, which led to commoners referring to them as the "Mahardlek Laikar," roughly translated as "Scarecrow Corps."
When he succeeded his father in 1868, King Chulalongkorn took his Royal Guard and formed a 24-strong Royal Bodyguard, referred to as the "Taharn Songlow." In 1870, the Royal Guard regiment were given the name the "King's Guard" and their duties included escorting the king while he travelled around the country.
The Royal Guards still exist in the present and serve as protectors of the Royal Family of Thailand.
ATLAS
The Army Tactical Level Advanced Simulation (ATLAS) is an interactive, distributed, constructive simulation used to conduct military Command Post Exercises (CPX) within the RTA. ATLAS utilize a continuous terrain model, incorporates HLA 1516, and displays 1:250,000 1:50,000 and Satellite Imagery. ATLAS was developed between 2002 and 2005 through cooperation with RTA Command and General Staff College (CGSC).
Equipment
Main Combat Weapons:
Small Arms
Aviation
The Royal Thai Army is known to operate the following aircraft types:
Known aviation bases
- Don Mueang Airport (VTBD)
- Units here include the VIP squadron, flying1 Embrear ERL-135LR serial number 0184/HS-AMP, 2 Jetstream 41 (serial numbers 41060 and 41094), 2 Casa 212-300 (serial numbers 446 and 447) and 2 Beech 1900C-1 (serial numbers 0169 and 0170) and the 1st Infantry Battalion operating 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4422 and 4448), 3 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1340,1366 and 1367) and 2 Cessna U-17B FAC aircraft (serial numbers 1616 and 1617).
- Bang Khen (3 km south of Don Mueang)
- The Royal Squadron flies 3 Bell 212 and 2 Bell 412 (serial numbers 36332 and 36333) from here. There is also a special transport unit flying around 10-12 Bell 212 and 1 or 2 Bell 206 based here.
- Camp Surasri
- The 9th Infantry Battalion operates 2 Bell 206B (the serial number of 1 is 4424), and 2 or 3 Schweizer S-300C. There is also a detachment of UH-1H from an Air Mobility Company here.
- Camp Jakapong (Prachin Buri)
- The 2nd Infantry Battalion "The Queen's Guard" was operating 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4446 and 4461), 3 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1343, 1344 and 1345) and 2 Maule MX-7 (one serial number known is 099) in 2004, however it is likely the Maule MX-7 may now not be operated by this unit now. A detachment of this unit (with in 1998 1 Bell 206 and 1 Maule MX-7) was operating from Watthana Nakhon (VTBW) near the Cambodian border.
- Phitsanulok Airport (VTPP)
- Loc 16 degrees 46'58.58N,100 degrees 16'44.84E elevation 154 feet/47 meters.
- Runway 14/32 length 9843 feetx148/3000x45 meters
- Operating from here is the 4th Infantry Battalion with Bell 206B,Schweizer S-300C,Cessna U-17B and Maule MX-7.
- Camp Suranaree (Khorat)
- The main flying unit here is the 3rd Infantry Battalion flying 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4396 and 4447), 2 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1337 and 1339) and 2 Cessna U-17B (serial numbers 1454 and 1618).
- This field also hosts a detachment of up to 3 Bell 212 helicopters from one of the Air Mobility Companies.
Lop Buri, the main base complex of the Royal Thai Army Aviation, which includes training, technical school, aircraft maintenance and aircraft storage.
- The main airfield here is called Sa Pran Nak (VTBH)
- Loc 14 degrees 56'58.02N,100 degrees 38'34.88E elevation 95 feet/29 meters.
- Runways 01/19 3300x98 feet/1006x30 meters and 06/24 3890x98 feet/1186/30 meters
- Operating units here include
- Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Nung - in English Air Mobility Company 1 - operating Bell UH-1H and Bell 212
- Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Song - in English Air Mobility Company 2 - operating Bell UH-1H and Bell 212
- Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Sam - in English Air mobility Company 3 - operating Bell UH-1H,Bell 206B and Bell 212
- Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Gou (pasom) - in English Air Mobility Company 9 (Mixed) - operating Bell AH-1F Huey Cobrs(3), Bell 212 and Sikorsky S-70-43 Black Hawk(7) with 2 more on order.
- The Chinook fleet is also based here.
- The army aviation centre is based here, which conducts conversion training for the army. Types operated are Cessna T-41B (ex US army surplus), Maule MX-7, Schweizar S-300C piston trainer helicopters.
- The 2 former VIP Beechcraft 200 King Air airplanes, serial numbers 0342 and 1165 are also based here. Their present role is unknown. These airplanes were modified in the USA in the late nineties.
A separate airfield within the Lop Buri complex (only around 3 km south of Sa Pran Nak) houses the 5th aircraft maintenance Company. This unit is responsible for maintenance and storage of army aircraft and helicopters.
- The 5th Infantry Division operates the following aviation assets from a small airfield within the army reserve at Nakhon si Thamara(not at the airport),2 Bell 206B-3(serial numbers 4382 and 4427),3 Schweizer TH-300C(serial numbers 1371,1372 and 1373)and 2 Maule MX-7(serial numbers 114 and 115).A detachment of helicopters can be found here from the Air Mobility Companies based at Lop Buri.
- The 6th Infantry battalion is based near Ubon Ratchatani.
Rank and insignia
Procurement News
News about Royal Thai Army procurement program
Russian Helicopter
On 28 October 2008 the Royal Thai Army created a proposal to purchase 6 Mi-17 to meet its requirements of medium-lift helicopter. This would be the first time the Thai Army would purchase military equipment from Russia.
New Rifle, Machine Gun, MANPAD
Royal Thai Army buys 15,000 TAR-21s Tavor and 992 Negevs Machine Gun from Israel in the deal worth 43.3 mil$
On 9 september 2008, Cabinet approved a package of defense modernization deals. RTA will buy another batch of 15,037 TAR-21s Tavor and 553 Negevs Machine Gun. Also RTA will procured 36 Iglas MANPAD from Russia.
New Armored Personnel Carrier
Royal Thai Army announces that it is award the contact to Unkraian firm to supply 96 BTR-3E1s in the budget of 4,000 million Baht But the deal faces setback about the accusation of corruption during the evaluation process. Military-appointed government during the coup decided to let the elected government to decide if RTA will continue buying BTR-3E1s or restart the evaluation process.
On 23 July 2008,PM Samak approved the deal and the project is moving on. RTA will revieved the first model in 2009 - 2010.
VIP transport Aircraft
Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Navy signed contact with Embraer to perchase 2 ERJ-135. 1 aircraft to each force. It will uses for VIP transportation. RTN version also have a MEDEVAC capability.
On 12 Jan 2009, Royal Thai Army siged contact to buy another aircraft with MEDEVAC capability.
See also
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