Internal Security Operations Command
{{Short description|Unit of the Thai military devoted to national security issues}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name = Internal Security Operations Command
| nativename_a = {{lang|th|กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคง{{nowrap|ภายในราชอาณาจักร}}}}
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| seal_width = 200px
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| picture = นายกรัฐมนตรี เป็นประธานการประชุมและกล่าวมอบนโยบายในการ - Flickr - Abhisit Vejjajiva (8).jpg
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| picture_caption = ISOC meeting with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in 2011
| preceding1 = Central Security Command (CSC)
| preceding2 = Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC)
| dissolved =
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| jurisdiction = Nationwide
| headquarters = Ruen Ruedi Palace
Nakhon Ratchasima Rd., Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand
| coordinates =
| region_code = TH
| employees =
| budget = 10,240.1 million baht (FY2019)
| minister1_name = Paetongtarn Shinawatra
| minister1_pfo = Director
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| agency_type = Security agency
| parent_agency = Office of the Prime Minister
| child1_agency =
| child2_agency =
| keydocument1 = [https://th.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A9%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%93%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3_%E0%B8%9E.%E0%B8%A8._%E0%B9%92%E0%B9%95%E0%B9%95%E0%B9%91 Internal Security Act]
| website = {{Official website|www.isoc.go.th}}
| footnotes =
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Internal Security Operations Command ({{langx|th|กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในราชอาณาจักร}}; {{RTGS|kong amnuaikan raksa khwam mankhong phainai ratcha-anachak}} ) or ISOC ({{langx|th|กอ.รมน.}}; {{rtgs|ko o ro mo no}}) is the internal security agency and political arm of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.{{cite news|title=Thailand's Deep State—The Military|url=https://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/thailand-military-deep-state/|access-date=15 November 2017|work=Asia Sentinel|date=2017-11-14}} It was responsible for the suppression of leftist groups from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period it was implicated in atrocities against activists and civilians. ISOC was implicated in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.{{Cite web|date=2006-08-25|title=Thai police thwart bomb plot against PM Thaksin|url=https://chinapost.nownews.com/20060825-138337|access-date=2020-08-26|website=The China Post|language=en-US}}
After Thaksin was deposed by the 2006 Thai coup d'état, the junta transformed ISOC into a government within a government, giving it wide-reaching authority over the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO). The junta also authorized it to help provincial authorities in marketing OTOP products.Bangkok Post, [http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=116776 CNS advises extended term for AEC], 14 February 2007{{failed verification|date=November 2017}}
In June 2007, the junta approved a draft national security bill which gave ISOC sweeping powers to handle "new forms of threats" to the country. The ISOC revamp modelled it after the US Department of Homeland Security and gave ISOC sweeping new powers to allow the ISOC chief to implement security measures, such as searches without seeking prime ministerial approval.{{cite news|title=Cabinet approves security bill|url=http://pages.citebite.com/v1y8j7i9g0hsu|access-date=15 November 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=2007-06-20}}
History
File:Saiyud Kerdphol 1974.jpg (center) co-founder of ISOC during field operation in 1974]]
=Mission and organization=
ISOC's mission is to suppress threats to national security, counterintelligence, information and psychological warfare, defend the monarchy, promote unity, and protect the public from harm.{{cite news |last1=Rojanaphruk |first1=Pravit |last2=Buabmee |first2=Sunantha |last3=Charuvastra |first3=Teeranai |title=INTERVIEW: MILITARY SURVEILLANCE TURNING THAILAND INTO '1984' |url=http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2019/10/09/interview-military-surveillance-turning-thailand-into-1984/ |access-date=11 October 2019 |work=Khaosod English |date=11 October 2019}} Nominally a civilian agency, ISOC operates under the aegis of the Office of the Prime Minister.{{cite web|title=Agencies under OPM|url=http://www.opm.go.th/opmportal//index.asp?pageid=1629&parent=1629&directory=12153&pagename=content1|website=Office of the Prime Minister|access-date=15 November 2017|archive-date=6 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106071716/http://www.opm.go.th/opmportal/index.asp?pageid=1629&parent=1629&directory=12153&pagename=content1|url-status=dead}} Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha is director of ISOC. Deputy director is army chief General Narongpan Jitkaewthae.{{cite news |last1=Boonbandit |first1=Tappanai |title=APIRAT REVIVES RED SCARE IN EPIC RANT AGAINST OPPOSITION |url=http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2019/10/11/apirat-revives-red-scare-in-epic-rant-against-opposition/ |access-date=11 October 2019 |work=Khaosod English |date=11 October 2019}}
ISOC's FY2019 budget is 10,240.1 million baht.{{cite book|title=Thailand's Budget in Brief, Fiscal Year 2019|date=December 2018|publisher=Bureau of the Budget (Thailand)|url=http://www.bb.go.th/en/topic-detail.php?id=8562&mid=456&catID=0|access-date=22 June 2019}}{{RP|84}} ISOC has about 5,000-6,000 staff nationwide, excluding those working in the south, and there are 500,000-600,000 internal security volunteers, as well as tens of thousands of people in its information network.{{cite news|last1=Raksaseri|first1=Kornchanok|title=Isoc power boost 'not political'|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1391986/isoc-power-boost-not-political|access-date=8 January 2018|work=Bangkok Post|date=8 January 2018}}
=Communist Suppression Operations Command=
The Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC) was established in 1964{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Chris |last2=Phongpaichit |first2=Pasuk |title=A History of Thailand |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-009-01483-0 |pages=205-206 |edition=4th}} with the assistance of the United States, with the aim of coordinating counterinsurgency operations.{{cite web|last1=Lee|first1=Terence C|title=The Causes of Military Insubordination: Explaining Military Organizational Behavior in Thailand|url=http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/docs/wp/wp0508.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611101420/http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/docs/wp/wp0508.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2007|publisher=Presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association Honolulu, Hawaii, March 2005|page=22|access-date=15 November 2017|date=28 February 2005}}{{cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Charles|title=The Domino That Didn't Fall; Why in a Country Riven by Coups Did an Apparently Robust and Growing Insurgency Collapse?|journal=Atlantic Monthly|date=November 1984|page=34|url=http://contemporarythinkers.org/charles-murray/essay/domino-didnt-fall/|access-date=15 November 2017|publisher=Contemporary Thinkers}}
Following the 17 November 1971 coup by military dictators Thanom Kittikachorn and Praphas Charusathien, Praphas appointed himself interior minister, chief of police, and head of CSOC.
The CSOC was implicated in several atrocities in its 1970s war against leftist groups. This included the Red Drum Massacre, the mass murder of southern Thai activists by burning them alive in gasoline drums.{{Citation|last=Damrongviteetham|first=Jularat|title=Narratives of the "Red Barrel" Incident: Collective and Individual Memories in Lamsin, Southern Thailand|date=2013|work=Oral History in Southeast Asia|pages=101–117|place=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|doi=10.1057/9781137311672_6|isbn=978-1-349-45703-8}}
Student leader Thirayuth Boonmee showed evidence that the destruction of Ban Na Sai village, Bueng Kan District, Nong Khai Province ({{Asof|2011}}, Bueng Kan Province) in northeast Thailand{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} was the handiwork of the CSOC.[http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Ty0mUjArhCcJ:www.newleftreview.net/%3Fgetpdf%3DNLR17702+%22Ban+Na+Sai%22+Thailand+communist&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=firefox-a Anderson, Benedict, "Murder and Progress in Modern Siam"]{{Dead link|date=November 2017}} The military had earlier claimed that the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) was responsible for the village's destruction.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}
=Operations during the 1970s=
ISOC conducted operations in cities and the Thai countryside to subvert leftist groups through propaganda and violence.{{cite book|last1=Handley|first1=Paul M|title=The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej|date=2006|publisher=Yale University Press, 2006|location=New Haven|isbn=0300106823|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6VDmAEACAAJ&q=0300106823|page=222|access-date=15 November 2017}} In 1973, the ISOC commenced a bombing campaign against hill tribe villages in northern Thailand.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} To prevent guerrillas from using their forest bases, the ISOC destroyed nearly {{convert|6|e6rai|km2}} of forest annually between 1973 and 1978.
Prime Minister to-be Prem Tinsulanonda was a senior officer of the ISOC.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}
ISOC's role declined starting in the early-1980s after the downfall of the CPT. However, it still had great influence. On 1 April 1987, after Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj claimed that ISOC had been brainwashed by communists, over 200 Thai Army Rangers attacked the prime minister's residence.{{cite web|url=http://www.asiatour.com/thailand/e-01land/et-lan73.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721224621/http://www.asiatour.com/thailand/e-01land/et-lan73.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2012 |title=THAILAND - |access-date=12 March 2017 }}{{failed verification|date=November 2017}}
Political intervention
=Plot to assassinate Thaksin Shinawatra=
ISOC Deputy Director Pallop Pinmanee was sacked{{cite news|title='Fake bomb' at Thai leader's home|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5291984.stm|access-date=15 November 2017|work=BBC News|date=28 August 2006}} after Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana,{{cite news|title='Bomb' found near Thai PM's home|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5280788.stm|access-date=15 November 2017|work=BBC News|date=2006-08-24}} his driver, was found driving a car containing 67 kilograms of explosives near the residence of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Pallop denied all involvement, noting that "If I was behind it, I would not have missed."{{cite news|title=If I was behind it, PM would be dead|url=http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/25/national/national_30011902.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105130053/http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/25/national/national_30011902.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-11-05|access-date=15 November 2017|work=The Nation|date=2006-08-25}} A government spokesperson stated that the explosives in the car were completely assembled, equipped with a remote sensor ready to be detonated, and would have had a blast radius of around one kilometre.
= Information Operations =
In a parliament debate in February 2020, Future Forward MP Viroj Lakkana-adisorn presented a document revealing the percentage of the Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) budget dedicated to counterintelligence, human development, humanitarian aid, and information and psychological warfare operations in Thailand's three southern provinces of Narathiwas, Songkhla, and Yala. Three additional documents detailed Defense Ministry orders to conduct information warfare against opposition parties and politicians, including specific budget details for the internet and mobile phones and the internet. As ISOC reports directly to the prime minister's office, General Prayut denied all the allegations and promised to investigate.{{Cite web|title=Things you should know about the Royal Thai Army's IO warfare|url=https://thisrupt.co/current-affairs/know-royal-thai-armys-io/|access-date=2020-10-18|website=thisrupt.co|date=11 October 2020|archive-date=2020-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017065129/https://thisrupt.co/current-affairs/know-royal-thai-armys-io/|url-status=dead}}
In October 2020, Twitter took down a "low-intensity" Royal Thai Army information operation apparently designed to stifle and influence democratic opinion on social media regarding Army scandals and democratic processes in the country, as part of a major wider investigation by Facebook and Twitter into attempts to influence the 2020 US Presidential Election.{{Cite book|last1=Goldstein|first1=Josh A.|title=Cheerleading Without Fans: A Low-Impact Domestic Information Operation by the Royal Thai Army|last2=Sinpen|first2=Aim|last3=Bush|first3=Daniel|last4=Ewald|first4=Ross|last5=John|first5=Jennifer|publisher=Stanford Internet Observatory|year=2020|url=https://stanford.app.box.com/v/202009-sio-thailand}}
ISOC with Thailand's coup
=Post-2006 coup ISOC=
ISOC received a boost when the 2006 coup installed the government of General Surayud Chulanont. His government passed the Internal Security Act, 2008, granting ISOC the status of a state organization reporting to the Office of the Prime Minister.{{cite news |title=Isoc a proxy for army rule |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1700456/isoc-a-proxy-for-army-rule |access-date=24 June 2019 |work=Bangkok Post |date=24 June 2019 |department=Opinion}}
Thaksin planned a major restructuring of the ISOC prior to the coup which overthrew him in September 2006. Soon after the coup, the junta released three army suspects in the car bomb plot.{{cite news|title=Car-bomb suspects get bail|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/30/headlines/headlines_30015051.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180101/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/30/headlines/headlines_30015051.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-03|access-date=15 November 2017|work=The Nation|date=2006-09-30}} Junta leader and Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin appointed himself head of ISOC (its previous head had been the prime minister) and transformed ISOC into a "government within a government". The new ISOC was criticized as being a shadowy puppet master pulling the strings of existing agencies, answerable to no one but its leader.The Nation, [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=5&id=30021304 Thailand's Dept of Homeland Security] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929105501/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=5&id=30021304 |date=2007-09-29 }}, 12 December 2006{{failed verification|date=November 2017}}
To protect people in south Thailand from insurgency-related violence, ISOC produced Jatukham Rammathep amulets for distribution to the Buddhist minority. The renowned animist amulets were believed to have magical powers to protect their wearers from violence and large sums are paid for them. The plan was developed by Colonel Manas Khongpan, deputy director of ISOC in Yala Province.The Nation, [http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/14/national/national_30029259.php Amulets to 'help protect' Buddhists in South] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175605/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/14/national/national_30029259.php |date=2016-03-03 }}, 14 March 2007{{failed verification|date=November 2017}}
The cabinet of General Surayud Chulanont gave 732 ISOC staff members an 84.3 million baht "reward" in mid-2007. ISOC explained that police and soldiers were temporarily transferred to support ISOC's operation. ISOC wanted to reward them for their hard work and sacrifice. ISOC had originally requested the reward in 2003, but was turned down by the Thaksin government.{{cite news|title=Cabinet backs B84.3m in Isoc 'rewards'|url=http://pages.citebite.com/v1l9r8e4s9evv|access-date=15 November 2017|work=Bangkok Post|date=2007-07-23}}
=Post-2014 coup ISOC=
Following the 2014 coup, junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha used ISOC to handle not just military matters, but also political and social issues. In 2017, Prayut issued NCPO Order 51/2017 to bolster ISOC's powers. A key provision was the inclusion of public prosecutors under ISOC's ageis, marking ISOC's first involvement in the Thai justice system. The order also gave ISOC the power to summon citizens to provide "information", a function formerly seen as a police responsibility. ISOC, under the order, is also responsible for "social order", a task previously shared by the police and ministries.
In October 2019, ISOC filed sedition charges against 12 opposition politicians and academics, including leaders of Future Forward and Pheu Thai parties. They were accused of inciting insurrection against the state for discussing amendments to the junta-drafted 2017 constitution on 28 September in Pattani Province. Their choice of venue is unfortunate as Pattani operates under a "state of emergency" enacted by the army to combat local separatists. This means that the defendants may be tried in a military tribunal. A leading Thai political scientist warned that giving a militarized surveillance agency free rein in internal security issues risked turning Thailand into a totalitarian state.
ISOC Bases
- Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok is the headquarters of ISOC.{{cite press release|title=ทุบตึกกอ.รมน.ปิดตำนาน"สวนรื่นฤดี"ต้านปฏิวัติ|url=http://www.komchadluek.net/detail/20091029/34944/%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B6%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD.%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%99.%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E2%80%9C%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B5%E2%80%9D%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%8F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4.html#.UKa-6uSZYZw|publisher=คมชัดลึก|language=Thai|date=|accessdate=17 November 2012|archive-date=2015-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122085944/http://www.komchadluek.net/detail/20091029/34944/%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B6%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD.%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%99.%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E2%80%9C%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B5%E2%80%9D%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%8F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4.html#.UKa-6uSZYZw|url-status=dead}}
- Tambon Khao Tum in Yarang District of Pattani Province is the site of Fort Sirindhorn, headquarters of ISOC Area 4.{{cite news |title=Outgoing and new Army chiefs visit Pattani |url=https://www.nationthailand.com/detail/breakingnews/30354127 |access-date=11 September 2018 |work=The Nation |date=11 September 2018 |archive-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911110454/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30354127 |url-status=live }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{National Intelligence Agencies}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Political repression in Thailand
Category:Political history of Thailand
Category:Thai intelligence agencies
Category:Government agencies established in 1966