Cabinet appoints Gen Chaipruak Doungprapat as new NSC chief
The Cabinet has appointed Gen Chaipruak Doungprapat as NSC secretary-general, putting southern border security high on his agenda.
- General Chaipruak Doungprapat, the former Royal Thai Army chief of staff, has been appointed by the Cabinet as the new secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC).
- The appointment is part of a security reshuffle aimed at ensuring an effective and continuous response to the ongoing unrest in Thailand's southern border provinces.
- General Chaipruak is known for his hardline stance on southern violence, having previously ordered a major security response and issued strong warnings to perpetrators following a deadly attack in Narathiwat.
- He replaces Chatchai Bangchuad, who is moving to become permanent secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Cabinet on Tuesday (September 1) approved the appointment of Gen Chaipruak Doungprapat, former Royal Thai Army chief of staff, as the new secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), replacing Chatchai Bangchuad, who is moving to become permanent secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has presented the security reshuffle as an effort to place the right person in the right role, with the government seeking to maintain an effective and continuous response to unrest in Thailand’s southern border provinces.
The change follows the Cabinet’s August 25 approval of Chatchai’s transfer from NSC secretary-general to permanent secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office. He will replace Yupha Taweewattanakitborvon, who is due to retire from the civil service on September 30.
Chaipruak attracted particular attention over his response to violence in the southern border region after armed assailants opened fire and threw pipe bombs at the Bukeh Sami checkpoint in Tanyong Mat, Narathiwat, on July 22, killing five paramilitary rangers.
Following the attack, Chaipruak, in his capacity as Army Chief of Staff and secretary-general of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), travelled to the area and convened security agencies to review the situation and response measures.
He instructed security units to tighten operations and intensify coordinated proactive measures aimed at tracking down those responsible and bringing them to justice under the law.
Chaipruak also delivered a strongly worded warning to those behind the attack:
“I will have people hunt through every village and every forested mountain area. Those who provide hiding places, and any country that provides hiding places, should know that we will pursue them to the ends of the earth.
“The perpetrators should watch themselves when they eat, sleep or walk. The time has come for you to become the hunted.”
Authorities have yet to announce the arrest of anyone specifically for carrying out the Bukeh Sami checkpoint attack.
