Premier 'made change to Army reshuffle list'
The military reshuffle list is believed to be undergoing a rewrite after caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra intervened over the weekend, according to defence and military sources.
The Defence Council met last Thursday to finalise the draft. Thaksin reportedly met with classmates from the Armed Forces Academy's Preparatory School Class 10 before signalling preferences for some posts. Caretaker Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura is believed to have held talks yesterday to revise the list. One of the most contentious Army assignments involves Maj-General Prin Suwanthat, commander of the First Infantry Division. Prin is seen as a trusted guard behind Thaksin's "throne". In the original list, Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin proposed elevating Prin to the position of deputy commander of the First Army Region. Prin is lobbying to override Sonthi and become the new commander of the First Army Corps. He is also pushing for his ally Maj General Daopong Ratanasuwan to replace him. The revised line-up, if approved, is geared for the Pre-Cadet Class 10 to keep on dominating crack troops deployed in Bangkok, the seat of the government.
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