EXCLUSIVE—Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn is stepping up recruitment for his King's Guard units that he controls directly. Anybody who declines to join faces severe punishment.
The first of these documents is an order from Thai Police Commissioner-General Chakthip Chaijinda telling 873 police officers to go for training at the infamous Thaweewattana Palace from 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 to be selected and recruited to the King's Guards Rachawallop force.
The second document is a "most urgent" internal message in police HQ.
It says that on 1 October at 07:00 a.m., 873 police officers showed up at Thaweewattana training camp as instructed, but 100 of them said they were not ready to receive the training. Presumably they were not keen on spending six months at the notorious Rachawallop training camp, away from their families, just to join the King's Guard.
The document says that as punishment, these 100 police officers were ordered to go for disciplinary training in Yala in the deep south of Thailand, where a separatist Malay Muslim insurgency has been raging for many decades. Most Thai soldiers and police are very afraid of being posted in the deep south, it's a dangerous region and for most of them it's very far away from their families.
The document says these 100 police officers were ordered to arrive at the Police Club on Vibhavadi Road, on 7 October 2019 at 10:00 a.m., to be transported to Yala by three police buses.
This is what happens to those who try to escape royal service, in the absolute monarchy that rules Thailand.
(https://www.facebook.com/zenjournalist/posts/10157177336811154)
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