ROYAL THAI ARMY

The 'Royal Thai Army' is the army of Thailand. It is the oldest and largest of Thailand's military branches. The army was formed in 1874 , partly as a response to new security threats following the Bowring Treaty with Britain, which opened up the country for international trade.

Contents

Units

Royal Guards

Equipment

Small Arms

Aviation

Known aviation bases

UAV

Coup d'etat

Rank and insignia

See also

References

Units

The Royal Thai Army is divided into 4 Army Regions:

★ First Army Region - headquartered in Bangkok and is responsible for the country's western and central provinces including the capital city.

★
★ 1st, 2nd, 9th and 11th infantry divisions, and 1st Development division.

★ Second Army Region - headquartered in Nakhon Ratchasima and is responsible fo the northeastern quadrant.

★
★ 3rd, 6th and 12th infantry divisions, and 2nd development division.

★ Third Army Region - headquartered in Phitsanulok, responsible for the northern and northwestern parts of the kingdom.

★
★ 4th infantry division, 1st armor division, and 3rd development division.

★ Fourth Army Region - headquartered in Nakhon Si Thammarat, responsible for southern Thailand.

★
★ 5th infantry division, and the 4th development division.
Altogether the army is organized into 7 infantry divisions (including 5 tank battalions), 1 armoured division, 1 cavalry division (with an armour capability), 8 independent infantry battalions, 2 special forces divisions trained and geared for small unit special and airborne operations, 1 field artillery division, and 1 air defense artillery division. 3 airmobile companies provided the ground force units with battlefield support.
The Royal Thai Army also controls at least one television network, the Thai Global Network.

Royal Guards

The 'Royal Guards' were established by King Chulalongkorn the Great of Thailand in 1859, when he was still a prince. Initially, the Royal Guards were servants with duties such as scaring crows, which led to commoners referring to them as the "Mahardlek Laikar," roughly translated as "''soldiers whose work is to scare crows.''"
When he succeeded his father in 1868, King Chulalongkorn took his Royal Guard and formed a 24-strong Royal Bodyguard, referred to as the "Taharn Songlow." In 1870, the Royal Guard regiment were given the name the "King's Guard" and their duties included escorting the king while he travelled around the country.
The Royal Guards still exist in the present and serve as protectors of the Royal Family of Thailand.

Equipment

Main Combat Weapons:

Royal Thai Army Equipment

Type	Amount
'Main Battle Tanks'	~330
M60A3	178
M48A5	105
Type 69-II	~50
'Light Tanks'	~460
Stingray	106
FV101 Scorpion CVR(T)	154
M41	200
'Armoured Personnel Carriers/Reconnaissance Vehicles'	~1130
M901A3 Improved TOW Vehicle	18
V-150	162
LAV-150	138
M113A1/A3	340
Condor	18
Type 85 (YW531H)	450
Rasit	?
'Field Artillery'	~640
Type 82 130 mm MLRS	60
M109A5 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer	20
GHN-45 155 mm Towed Howitzer	42
Soltam M71 155 mm Towed Howitzer	32
M198 155 mm Towed Howitzer	62
M114 155 mm Towed Howitzer	56
Type 59 130 mm Towed Howitzer	15
GIAT LG1 Mk II 105 mm Towed Howitzer	24
M101 105 mm Towed Howitzer	285
M102 105 mm Towed Howitzer	12
M618A2 105 mm Towed Howitzer	32
'Air Defence Artillery'	~240
Type 59 57 mm anti-aircraft gun	24
Bofors L40/70 40 mm anti-aircraft gun	48
Type 74 twin-barrel 37 mm anti-aircraft gun	122
M163 VADS rotary 20 mm anti-aircraft gun	24
M167 VADS rotary 20 mm anti-aircraft gun	24

Small Arms

★ AK-47 Rifle

★ M16 Rifle

★ M733 Rifle

★ Heckler & Koch HK33

★ M4 Carbine

★ M47 Dragon Anti-Tank Guided Missile

★ M72 LAW Light Anti-tank Weapon

★ RPG-2/7 Anti-Tank Rocket

Aviation

The Royal Thai Army is known to operate the following aircraft types

★ British Aerospace Jetstream 41 2 aircraft (serial numbers 41060 and 41094) based with the VIP unit at Don Mueang airport.

★ Beech 200 King Air 2 aircraft (serial numbers 0342 and 1165) based within the Lop Buri Army complex

★ Beech 1900C-1 2 aircraft (serial numbers 0169 and 0170) based with the VIP squadron at Don Mueang airport.

★ Casa 212-300 2 aircraft (serial numbers 446 and 447) based with the VIP squadron at Don Mueang airport.

★ Bell 206 Jet Ranger. Both the Bell 206A and Bell 206B in use, around 25 examples in total.

★ Bell UH-1H probably over 100 examples in the inventory, but considerably less are airworthy.

★ Bell AH-1F Huey Cobra,3 still flying (serial numbers 9996,9997 and 9998), a fourth example serial number 9999 was lost in a crash in 2001.

★ Sikorsky S-70-43 Blackhawk 7 helicopters delivered (serial numbers 6927,6928,6929,7002,7003,7025 and 7026).2 further examples on order.

★ Schweizer S-300C,around 45 of these helicopters delivered for ab initio training and observation.

★ Cessna U-17B,around 15-20 of these Vietnam era FAC aircraft still flying.

★ Cessna T-41B,around 20-30 of these ex US Army fixed-wing trainers still flying.

★ Maule MX-7,around 15 still flying as liaison and trainer aircraft.

★ Bell 212 around 50-60 examples in total, but less than this are airworthy.

★ Bell 412 2 helicopters recently delivered for the use of the Crown Prince.

★ Boeing Vertol 414 Chinook helicopter 6 examples in service.

Known aviation bases

★ Don Muaeang airport(VTBD)

★
★ Units here include the VIP squadron, flying 2 Jetstream 41 (serial numbers 41060 and 41094),2 Casa 212-300 (serial numbers 446 and 447) and 2 Beech 1900C-1 (serial numbers 0169 and 0170) and the 1st Infantry Battalion operating 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4422 and 4448),3 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1340,1366 and 1367) and 2 Cessna U-17B FAC aircraft (serial numbers 1616 and 1617).

★ Bang Khen (3 km south of Don Mueang)

★
★ The Royal Squadron flies 3 Bell 212 and 2 Bell 412 (serial numbers 36332 and 36333) from here.there is also a special transport unit flying around 10-12 Bell 212 and 1 or 2 Bell 206 based here.

★ Camp Surasri

★
★ The 9th Infantry Battalion operates 2 Bell 206B (the serial number of 1 is 4424), and 2 or 3 Schweizer S-300C.there is also a detachment of UH-1H from an Air Mobility Company here.

★ Camp Jakapong (Prachin Buri)

★
★ The 2nd Infantry Battalion"The Queen's Guard" was operating 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4446 and 4461),3 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1343,1344 and 1345) and 2 Maule MX-7 (one serial number known is 099) in 2004,however it is likely the Maule MX-7 may now not be operated by this unit now. A detachment of this unit (with in 1998 1 Bell 206 and 1 Maule MX-7) was operating from Watthana Nakhon(VTBW) near the Cambodian border.

★ Phitsanulok Airport(VTPP)

★
★ Loc 16 degrees 46'58.58N,100 degrees 16'44.84E elevation 154 feet/47 meters.

★
★ Runway 14/32 length 9843 feetx148/3000x45 meters

★
★ Operating from here is the 4th Infantry Battalion with Bell 206B,Schweizer S-300C,Cessna U-17B and Maule MX-7.

★ Camp Suranaree(Khorat)

★
★ The main flying unit here is the 3rd Infantry Battalion flying 2 Bell 206B (serial numbers 4396 and 4447),2 Schweizer S-300C (serial numbers 1337 and 1339) and 2 Cessna U-17B (serial numbers 1454 and 1618).

★
★ This field also hosts a detachment of up to 3 Bell 212 helicopters from one of the Air Mobility Companies.
Lop Buri, the main base complex of the Royal Tahi Army Aviation, which includes training, technical school, aircraft maintenance and aircraft storage.

★ The main airfield here is called Sa Pran Nak(VTBH)

★
★ Loc 14 degrees 56'58.02N,100 degrees 38'34.88E elevation 95 feet/29 meters.

★
★ Runways 01/19 3300x98 feet/1006x30 meters and 06/24 3890x98 feet/1186/30 meters

★
★ Operating units here include

★
★
★ Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Nung - in English Air Mobility Company 1 - operating Bell UH-1H and Bell 212

★
★
★ Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Song - in English Air Mobility Company 2 - operating Bell UH-1H and Bell 212

★
★
★ Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Sam - in English Air mobility Company 3 - operating Bell UH-1H,Bell 206B and Bell 212

★
★
★ Gong Bin Pee-ak Moon Tee Gou(pasom) - in English Air Mobility Company 9(Mixed) - operating Bell AH-1F Huey Cobrs(3), Bell 212 and Sikorsky S-70-43 Black Hawk(7) with 2 more on order.

★
★
★ The Chinook fleet is also based here.

★
★
★ The army aviation centre is based here, which conducts conversion training fot the army. Types operated are Cessna T-41B (ex US army surplus), Maule MX-7, Schweizar S-300C piston trainer helicopters.

★
★
★ The 2 former VIP Beech 200 King Air airplanes, serial numbers 0342 and 1165 are also based here. Their present role is unknown.these airplanes were modified in the USA in the late nineties.
A separate airfield within the Lop Buri complex (only around 3 km south of Sa Pran Nak) houses the 5th aircraft maintenance Company. This unit is responsible for maintenance and storage of army aircraft and helicopters.

★ The 6th Infantry battalion is based near Ubon Ratchatani.

★ Other known army aviation bases include Nakhon Si Thammarat(VTSF)

UAV

★ IAI Searcher - short-range battlefield reconnaissance UAV (4)

Coup d'etat

Main articles: 2006 Thailand coup d'état

On 19 September 2006 the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'etat over the civilian government and assumed the effective control of Thailand.

Rank and insignia

Main articles: Military ranks of the Thai armed forces

See also

★ Military of Thailand

★ Royal Thai Navy

★ Royal Thai Air Force

References

★ Royal Thai Army

★ Thai Rapid Deployment Force