Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Narongpan Jitkaewtae has requested that the media to stop asking him about the possibility of another coup after the May 14th general election and to stop reporting speculation about a coup, noting that the word “coup” tends to cause political conflict and should be removed from media’s vocabularies.
Asked about the Move Forward party’s campaign manifesto, which advocates the scrapping of mandatory military conscription, General Narongpan said that political parties have the right to present policies and, likewise, the military has the right to defend the need for conscription.
He said that he is not overly concerned about the potential for unrest after the election, because the Thai people have learned from past experiences, adding “We have come to this point of democratic politics. We must move on, but everyone must be sensible about what they should or should not do for the country. What the country needs is peace and order, so the economy can prosper, but, if we engage in conflict and unrest, the majority of the people will suffer.”
Asked whether change or maintaining the status quo is better, the army chief said that it depends on the timing, which is constantly changing, adding there are two types of change – for better and for worse.
He admitted that he does not know whether there will be unrest or peace in the next five months, leading up to his retirement, adding that he can only be sure about what has happened in the past.
Gen Narongpan also said he has told army personnel and their families to go to the polls, because it is a duty of good citizens, as he reminded them not to do anything which is against the law.
