Thailand: 19 soldiers injured in friendly fires in war exercise

19 soldiers injured in friendly fires in war exercise

The Nation
Lop Buri - Nineteen soldiers were injured, four severely, when they were shot at by a helicopter supposed to provide them air backup during a raid as part of a war exercise here Wednesday.

Sources said the mishap happened at about 10 am during an exercise on raiding by a battalion of the Lop Bur-based Special Warfare Command.

Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Paochinda witnessed the war exercise.

As part of the exercise, some 20 soldiers were flown on a helicopter to mount an attack on the enemies.

The soldiers were supposed to run to their destination while another helicopter was supposed to fire at the enemies to cover them. However, the friendly fires from the helicopter hit the soldiers.

They were rushed to the Ananda Mahidol Hospital.

The Nation

Cambodia is ready if Thailand invades

Cambodia is ready if Thailand invades

Cambodian soldiers guarding the Preah Vihear temple.

Radio Free Asia
By Chea Makara
27th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The Cambodian government has reiterated that Cambodia is ready if Thailand violates the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Cambodia while the current border disputes have not yet been resolved.

Minister of Information and government spokesman, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, has told reporters on Saturday like this: “If Thailand decided to invade, we will not allow them to invade us easily. We have been prepared, even if Thailand has many jet fighters, that we are ready because in the war it is not important if they have jet fighters or not, because in the early stages of fighting they have to consider which side will suffer the most heaviest casualties. So, it is not so easy for Thailand (to invade Cambodia).”

Mr. Khieu Kanharith said that if the fighting along the borders erupted, Cambodian requires around 17,000 to 20,000 troops.

He added that after the clashes between Khmer-Thai troops on the 15th of October, 2008, the Cambodian government has conceptualised three possible scenarios. First, Cambodia and Thailand must resolve all border problems in a total package. Secondly, there will be military confrontations without actual fighting occurring. And thirdly, wars will break out along the borders between the two countries.

Mr. Khieu Kanharith added that the Cambodian government has chosen the second scenario and that is to avoid armed conflict and continue to engage in bilateral talks and the Cambodian government can complain to the United Nations only when Thailand invades Cambodian territories.

Please note that border disputes with Thailand had occurred after Unesco had decided to inscribe the Preah Vihear temple into a world heritage list in July, 2008.

Leadership: No, You Can't Have That

Leadership: No, You Can't Have That
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htlead/articles/20081214.aspx

December 14, 2008: Cambodia has been forced to back plans to increase its military budget from $160 million to nearly $500 million. This is because about half the government budget comes from foreign aid, and the donors were not willing to see their contributions diverted to military use. The reason for the initial boost in the defense budget was a recent border dispute with Thailand. This border confrontation is still going on, and Cambodia feels vulnerable.

Thailand has 300,000 troops in its armed forces, Cambodia only 100,000. The confrontation on the border made it clear to the Cambodians that they would likely lose any war with Thailand. Increasing the defense budget won't change that, and peace talks to settle the matter continue. Even if Cambodia increased its annual military budget to $500 million, Thailand spends more than six times that, and has done so for decades.

Foreign donors are also unhappy with money, donated to demobilize troops, being stolen by corrupt officials. The demobilized troops are supposed to be given retraining and severance pay, but instead got tossed off the military payroll and left to fend for themselves. Government officials are also accused of stealing foreign aid by taking money that is supposed to go to soldiers that don't exist ("ghost soldiers," an ancient technique for stealing defense funds.)

The poorly trained, paid, equipped and led Cambodian military is not good for much beyond acting as a police reserve. Meanwhile, the global depression has led foreign donors to contribute less money to Cambodia next year, and cut that even more if officials don't cut back on the stealing.