How many generals?

[Spitfire]

Apparantly Thailand is appointing 1,092 generals and flag officers in the next reshuffel.......that's a lot when you think about the US army is limited to 692 by law and China admits to 191 general officers despite their armed forces being 4 times the size of Thailand's in service people numbers.

What are they all doing?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/4 ... 2-generals

[Big Boy]

I've said this several times before. Are you sure they are genuine generals, or civil servants of equivalent rank?

In the UK civilians were given military equivalent ranks (mine was Lt Col). However, this did not mean that we knew which end of a rifle the bullet came out of .

[daddy]

If you are a general in thailand then you will be it for ever. It means, if you are in retirement you are still a general till you will die. So I think that many of the 1092 are retired generals.

[Vital Spark]

I read this article this morning, before going to work. Gave me a chuckle...(you've just got to humour them)

What are they all doing?

The answer is probably very little. The higher up the ladder you are, the less work you have to do, and the more privileges you get. I teach a lovely student who's half-Thai/half English. He's a really nice guy, and obviously bilingual. He's in the Thai equivalent of the TA, and wants to join the army when he graduates. When I suggested that he could earn a good salary in the private sector, working for an international company, he gave me one of those looks. He gently explained to me that he could earn about 30,000 baht a month when he graduates. The army job, he said, only takes up half a working day (most of them apparently have two jobs). He can do translation or some other job in the afternoon and be earning 60,000 baht+. He's a switched on cookie, and is fully aware that he'll probably never have to do any combat and risk his life.

Nice work, if you can get it.
VS

[Bristolian]

When you look at the number of people in Thailand that pay tax at the highest rate 35%, and then count the number of Generals alone....the sums don't add up.