Latest reports indicate that Gen. Nattaphon Nakpanich, the current caretaker deputy defence minister, appointed under previous administrations, will remain in Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government, but this time as the defence minister.
If confirmed, he will be the only minister from Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government to stay on in the new Cabinet.
Anutin personally invited the general to take the post, saying he did not want to change the top defence leadership amid the unresolved Thai-Cambodian border conflict.
Previously, several names were floated for the portfolio, including Thammanat Prompao, a core member of the Kla Tham party, Gen. Supot Malaniyom, former secretary-general of the National Security Council and Gen. Nat Intaracharoen, former permanent secretary of defence.
With limited time available, under the agreement between Bhumjaithai and the People’s Party, which may require the House to be dissolved within four months, Nattaphon is seen as the most practical choice during the fragile Thai-Cambodian ceasefire.
As acting defence minister, Gen. Nattaphon is scheduled to attend the upcoming Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Koh Kong, Cambodia. Key issues will include mine clearance in disputed border areas, where six landmine incidents have occurred in recent months, as well as cross-border crime.
As deputy defence minister, in the Srettha-Paetongtarn administrations, Nattaphon also headed the Thai-Cambodian Border Situation Management Centre, playing an important role in security operations along the frontier.
During the COVID-19 crisis, he was assigned by then-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to help lead pandemic management. After retirement, he was appointed adviser to the prime minister.
In 2023, he joined the Cabinet as deputy defence minister, under the quota of the United Thai Nation party in the Srettha Thavisin government.
Now 64, Gen. Nattaphon has described himself as a “party outsider,” never attending party meetings or engaging in politics, saying he simply carries out the tasks assigned to him.
Commenting on the latest Cabinet line-up, he said he was “ready for anything, whether to complete the mission or to continue serving.”
