Armed forces on defensive in mounting political crisis
Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha admitted today that the country's armed forces could only take a defensive position in dealing with the present increasing political conflicts, bearing in mind their duty to protect the country, the people and the monarch.
He said the disputes have worsened with continuing violence since all factions refused to abide by the rule of law.
Violent incidents are inevitable and leaders of conflicting factions must take responsibility for the losses, adding that the military would do everything it could to resolve the problems.
“We are blamed when we can’t do it,” he deplored. “We can only be on the defensive for future incidents.”
Referring to the alleged presence of foreign forces in Thailand, Gen Prayuth said intelligence reports did not find any grounds for the speculation, indicating that it would be unnecessary to deploy foreign forces for such attacks.
“You only need daring hooligans with a little training to create unrest. These people were involved in the 2010 political turmoil. They are hooligans. You’d better ask the police about this,” he said.
