Former commander of the Second Army Region, Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang, recalled an as yet unreported incident from July 24, when he was ordered by a ‘phu yai’ (senior person), whom he declined to name, to stop the armed conflict with Cambodian troops about six hours after it had started.
He said he defied the order because he wanted to reclaim the territory lost to Cambodia, adding that he had threatened to expose the ‘phu yai’, which could put that person at risk of being convicted of treason, a capital offence in Thailand, while and withdrawing troops on the say so of the ‘phu yai’, while they are defending Thai territory, see him facing a similar charge himself.
In his lecture, given in Nakhon Pathom last Saturday, the retired general, who was highly praised by the Thai public for his leadership during the 5-day battle, which began on July 24, claimed to have had argued with the unnamed “phu yai” that the fighting must continue for a couple of days order to take back the lost territory.
He said that he assumes that the ‘phu yai’ wanted the fighting to stop was because, the longer it went on the worse it would get for Cambodia.
“The Cambodians have done this before. They take the case to the World Court and try to claim three sets of ancient ruins and a tract of land from Thailand,” he said.
On positive note, Lt Gen Boonsin said that the person could also have been concerned that more soldiers would be killed if the fighting continued, adding that his own focus was on reclaiming the lost territory, long occupied by the Cambodians. He said that he also wanted to close the Prasat Ta Muen Thom ancient ruins to all Cambodians for good.
He said that he was unable to capture Prasat Ta Kwai from the Cambodians because some his troops were transferred to Phu Makua and then a ceasefire agreement was signed in Malaysia, forcing an end to the armed conflict and the stand-off at Prasat Ta Kwa.
He remained at Prasat Ta Kwai until 48 hours before his mandatory retirement kicked in.
