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Thailand Training
With increased funding for instructional purposes and with
guidance from JUSMAG personnel stationed in the country, the Thai
armed forces continued to improve their ability to handle
sophisticated weapons and to employ the tactics of modern
warfare. Over the years, Thailand expanded its training
facilities, sent a large number of Thai officers to the United
States for military instruction, and augmented conventional
training with counterinsurgency instruction.
New army conscripts customarily underwent a sixteen-week
program of instruction, half devoted to basic training and half
to more specialized requirements. This initial program was
followed by three-phase unit training cycle that lasted the rest
of the first year. Roughly two months were allotted to
instruction and testing in squad and platoon tactics. Next came a
second phase consisting of exercises at company and battalion
levels. The third phase usually included some form of battalion
maneuver.
Naval basic training lasted from eight to eleven weeks,
depending on the ultimate assignment of the conscript. The course
covered the elementary aspects of seamanship, navigation,
ordnance, gunnery, and damage-control procedures. Marine recruits
received the same basic training, but those selected for advanced
training received additional instruction in counterinsurgency
amphibious warfare. Unit training was generally conducted at the
naval squadron level. Shipboard drills, including team gunnery
and other underway operations, took place throughout the entire
instruction cycle.
The training program of the Royal Thai Air Force was
patterned on that of its American counterpart. Upon completion of
basic training, recruits and conscripts were selected for more
advanced programs. Flight training for pilots and other aircrew
members was conducted at Khorat Air Base (near Nakhon
Ratchasima). Most air technical instruction took place at the
school complex assigned to Don Muang Air Base near Bangkok.
More advanced training was provided by the specialized
schools of each branch of the armed forces and the entire system
of military education coordinated by the Directorate of Education
and Research at Supreme Command Headquarters. This directorate
also supervised the operation of the combined and special service
schools, such as the National Defense College and the Armed
Forces Staff College. The National Defense College in Bangkok was
the highest level military school in the country. Its major
objective was to foster cooperation between senior military and
civilian authorities in planning and directing national security
activities. Its course of instruction, conducted for a limited
number of high-ranking military, police, and civilian officials
each year, covered military, political, and economic subjects.
The Armed Forces Staff College in Bangkok, the second highest
military school, was intended to produce senior general staff
officers who were qualified to serve on joint or combined staffs.
Annual enrollment was confined to a small number of officers
selected from the three armed services. Attendance at either the
Armed Forces Staff College or a service staff college was
considered mandatory for advancement beyond the rank of major or
lieutenant commander.
In addition to its staff college, each of the armed forces
operated its own service academy. The army's Chulachomkhlao Rhlao
Royal Military Academy was the largest and oldest of these. In
1986 it was moved from its central Bangkok location to a new
campus in Nakhon Nayok Province. The Royal Thai Naval College was
at Ban Pak Nam and the Royal Thai Air Force Academy at Don Muang
Air Base. The five-year academies served as the principal sources
of junior officers for all three services.
Each service also had intermediate military schools similar
to those operated by the United States military establishment. In
addition, a sizable number of officers from all branches received
training in American institutions as well as in advanced
technical training schools in the United States. The armed forces
also maintained a variety of schools to provide technical
training for NCOs. These were oriented primarily toward career
enlisted men and offered courses that varied in length, depending
on the particular vocational specialty involved.
Data as of September 1987
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