General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Thirachai Nakawanich PC (, born 15 November 1955) is a Thai military officer who served as

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army () is headquartered in Bangkok. The commander of the Royal Thai Army is a powerful position that has at times been the springboard to the premiership. Prior to 1932, the post of Commander of the Siam ...

from 2015 to 2016. He succeeded

Udomdej Sitabutr Udomdej Sitabutr (, born 15 August 1955) is a Thai military officer. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2014 to 2015. Education Udomdej studied at Saint Gabriel's College, an all-boys school. He then decided to go int ...

, with whom he has had a long-running feud, and whose preferred successor would have been Preecha Chan-ocha, brother of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and NCPO chief Prayuth Chan-ocha. He was succeeded in 2016 by General Chalermchai Sitthisart upon reaching retirement age.

Education

Thirachai completed secondary education at Patumwan Demonstration School, Srinakharinwirot University. He then decided to go into a military career and proceeded to study at

Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School The Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School or AFAPS (Thai: โรงเรียนเตรียมทหาร) is a senior high school in Nakhon Nayok Province. It is a flagship institution of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters. The c ...

(Class 14) and

Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA) (; ) is the service academy of Royal Thai Army (RTA). Established in 1887 it has graduated the majority of Thailand's military leaders, many of whom have become Prime Ministers of Thailand, Thai prime m ...

(Class 25).

Military career

Thirachai started duty in the 2nd Infantry Regiment, Queen Sirikit's Guard knowns as Burapha Payak (Eastern tigers). In 2013, he appointed as commander of the 1st Army Area. Then in 2015 he was appointed as Commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army inheriting the position from General

. During

2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état, the twelfth since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government follow ...

, He was commander of the peacekeeping force of

National Council for Peace and Order The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO; ; ; abbreviated (; )) was the military junta that ruled Thailand from its coup d'état on 22 May 2014 to 16 July 2019. On 20 May 2014, the military declared martial law nationwide in an attempt to ...

. He used to go to work in the field in the three southern border provinces as the commander of the

Narathiwat Narathiwat (, ) is a town ( thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand and capital of Narathiwat Province. The town is in the Mueang Narathiwat District and was established in 1936. As of 2008, the population was 40,521. It lies 1,141 km south ...

Special Task Force.

Royal career

In December 2016 he was appointed to the Privy Council by King

Vajiralongkorn Vajiralongkorn (born 28 July 1952) is King of Thailand. He is the tenth Thai monarch of the Chakri dynasty since ascending the throne in 2016 with the regnal name Rama X. The only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirik ...

, but was relieved of his duties in June 2018 for unspecified reasons.

References

Thirachai Nakwanich Thirachai Nakwanich Thirachai Nakwanich Living people 1955 births Thirachai Nakwanich Thirachai Nakwanich Thirachai Nakwanich Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) {{Thailand-mil-bio-stub