The list took effect on Tuesday and was endorsed by Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

Army insiders said Sonthi had ordered his two assistants - General Saprang Kalayanamitr and General Anupong Paochinda - to reassign battalion commanders.

Sonthi's order coincided with jitters in the military following a warning from former prime minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh last weekend.

The new line-up includes Lt-Colonel Banyong Thongnuam as commander of the Second Battalion of the First Infantry Regiment.

Lt-Colonel Surin Preeyanupap was made commander of the First Battalion of the Second Infantry Regiment.

Lt-Colonel Piyapong Klinpan took command of the Third Battalion of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment, and Lt-Colonel Pairat Kaewsri was appointed commander of the First Battalion of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment.

POLICE  :Discuss restructuring first: PM

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday called on all parties involved in the planned restructuring of the Royal Thai Police to coordinate and exchange information before taking major steps into the process.

"The police have their own opinions on the subject; so do the National Legislative Assembly and the Justice Ministry. Now it's time to open up, reveal and exchange information with each other," he said.

Asked whether a public hearing should be organised to sound out the restructuring plan, he said the Justice Ministry, which oversees the process, would decide later on.

Commenting on police spokesman Ajiravid Subarnbhesak's statement that the plan would make Thailand "burn with fire", Surayud said the bottom line for the plan was good logic.

"Public satisfaction and productive outcome are the final objective," he added.

The prime minister, a former general, said he did not think the plan would result in conflicts between the military and police officers. "The public will decide whether they will approve the plan," he said.

CTX SCANDAL :AEC to hear middleman's story

The Assets Examination Committee will next week hear from the middleman in the state's procurement of CTX scanners for Suvarnabhumi Airport and wrap up its investigation by December 4.

Totrakul Yomanak, spokesman for the AEC subcommittee probing the alleged irregularities, said yesterday the panel would next week summon Worapoj Yasadatt, managing director of Patriot Business Consultants, to give information. The company was the local representative of the US supplier of the explosives-detection equipment.

He said a source from engineering circles claimed that the dirty money used in swinging the purchase was transferred to a bank in a neighbouring country where the laws protecting secret accounts made it hard to trace.

Totrakul, a former president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said businessmen who were forced to pay money to corrupt state officials to land government projects might give useful witness information to the AEC if they were protected from prosecution.

The subcommittee might propose an amnesty bill to the National Legislative Assembly, but care must be taken not to allow people to abuse the law, he said.

Amnuay Thantara, the AEC member heading the CTX scanner investigation, said the legislation proposal was solely Totrakul's idea and he would not propose it to the full AEC.