Don't interfere with military : Ex-Defence minister

“The intention of the military line-up law is to foster unity in the armed forces,” he said.
Prawit added that the Defence Ministry Administrative Act was enacted on the basis of professional performance evaluation. Only soldiers were in the position to decide who within their ranks should serve in what position, he said.
The existing provisions were designed to ensure professional assessment at each echelon of the armed forces without meddling from outsiders, he said. For instance, the regional commander could not interfere with the battalion assignments without going through the division commander first, he explained.
He warned that any attempts to meddle with military assignments would demoralise the armed forces.
The debate on the military reshuffle happened after a number of Pheu Thai MPs complained that neither the defence minister nor the government had any say in dispensing military assignments.
The MPs floated the idea of amending the law, though the main coalition party did not take a clear stand on the issue.
A group of 30 red-shirt supporters staged a mock funeral in front of the Army headquarters to protest against the military line-up, which saw a number of officers involved in last year’s anti-riot operations being promoted.
The protesters included Phayao Akhad, whose daughter Kamolket was killed while attending to patients inside Wat Pathum Wanaram last May.
In another development, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha dismissed allegations that soldiers were being trained in Israel in preparation for the next military coup.
“This [military] is not a cartoon,” he said, adding that he was unaware of any coup plot and that his hands were already full with the flood-relief operations.
On Saturday, Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan said he suspected a contingent of special Israel-trained forces were working as bodyguards to a doctor involved in the opposition movement. He further alleged that the opposition movement was a pretext to trigger a coup. Many see this comment as a veiled attack against the multi-coloured shirt movement.