looking for Thai COIN experts

Greetings,

I’m a PhD student with the University of Exeter in the UK studying Thai counterinsurgency strategies. I am interested in contacting persons who are knowledgeable in this subject. My goal is to produce a Thai COIN paradigm that will add to lessons learned from other COIN campaigns such as Vietnam, Malaysia, El Salvador, Colombia, etc.

In particular, I am studying Thai COIN techniques for three wars: 1) the war against the communists (1965-85), 2) the small LIC against southern separatists in the 1990s time period – the SBPAC and TF-43 era, and 3) Thailand’s current war on its southern border.

About me: I am a US citizen who has worked as a defense contractor for several USG entities, including the Army G-3, and I have also worked corporate security in SE Asia. I have experience in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. More, I write/have written for Jane’s, The Naval Institute Press, “Asian Defence and Diplomacy,” and scores of other venues.

Thank you for your assistance.

Cheers,
Goldbug

You might try and contact Dr Peter Chalk at RAND, he has done some sound research work in the area recently.

You might already be aware of this, but in my experience there is some sensitivity amongst Thai officials regarding the use of the label 'insurgency' with respect to the current 'issues' in the southern provinces.

Good luck,

Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the info. I'll put him in my list.

I am in touch with some Thai security personnel who are also studying this subject, and these people do call it an insurgency, but yes, there have been scores of Thai who have labeled this as banditry.

I think they are coming around, however. They are finally getting some Ukrainian APCs to provide defense against the many IEDs that are going off down there. And in the past two weeks, they rounded up hundreds of suspects and in the process rounded up several members of the RKK.

More, they have enacted several political and economic aid initiatives, too, which speaks well of their basic strategy.

Thanks,
Goldbug