Troops march past the soon to be retired
Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara.
Patcharapol Panrak
The supreme commander of Thailand’s military made a
final review of Royal Thai Navy troops in Sattahip as he prepares to
retire at month’s end.
Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara
stood with Navy Commander-in-Chief Khamthorn Pumhiran on the deck of the
HTMS Taksin Sept. 23 at Sattahip Naval Base as 800 Marine Corps and Air
and Coastal Defense Command personnel marched in formation.
A flotilla of six vessels and several aircraft also
engaged in an honorary procession with the HTMS Mongkut Rajkuman firing
off a salute.
Following the procession, 202 commanders and 650
government officials, sailors, employees and naval cadets attended a
reception. The supreme commander also paid respects to a statue of
Prince Chumphon, the Father of the modern Thai navy.
Songkitti praised the navy for its long history,
unity and honor. He emphasized the navy’s duty to protect democracy.
Songkitti, 60, retires Oct. 1 after 34 years of
service. A graduate of Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, he began
service as a cavalry officer and fought against communist insurgents
throughout the country, served in 1982 on the tense Thailand-Cambodian
border following Vietnam’s invasion of the kingdom’s neighbor four years
earlier and, in 1999, led Thailand’s military contingent in the
International Force for East Timor peacekeeping mission.
He was named chief of defense forces in 2008 and, in
2009, as the head of the controversial Center for the Resolution of the
Emergency Situation, the organization tasked with resolving unrest by
red shirt anti-government demonstrators.
