15th Infantry Division (Thailand)

15th Infantry Division
15th Infantry Division
กองพลทหารราบที่ 15
	Unit insignia
Active	April 1st 2007–present
Country	Thailand
Branch	Royal Thai Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Part of	Fourth Army Area
Garrison/HQ	Fort Ingkhayutthaborihan, Nong Chik, Pattani, Thailand
Engagements	South Thailand insurgency;
Website	http://www.infantry-division15.com/Inf_Dev15.html(in Thai)

The 15th Infantry Division (Thai: กองพลทหารราบที่ 15) (พล.ร.๑๕.) is an infantry division of the Royal Thai Army, it is currently a part of the Fourth Army Area. The unit is composed of the 151st Infantry Regiment, 152nd Infantry Regiment and 153rd Infantry Regiment and Service Support Regiment. The division engaged in the South Thailand insurgency.

History

Southern insurgency (2001–ongoing)

The ongoing southern insurgency had begun in response to Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram's 1944 National Cultural Act, which replaced the use of Malaya in the region's schools with the Thai language and also abolished the local Islamic courts in the three ethnic Malay and Muslim majority border provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat.^[1]^{[circular reference]} However, it had always been on a comparatively small scale. The insurgency intensified in 2001, during the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Terrorist attacks were now extended to the ethnic Thai minority in the provinces.^[2] The Royal Thai Armed Forces also went beyond their orders and retaliated with strong armed tactics that only encouraged more violence.^[3] By the end of 2012 the conflict had claimed 3,380 lives, including 2,316 civilians, 372 soldiers, 278 police, 250 suspected insurgents, 157 education officials, and seven Buddhist monks. Many of the dead were Muslims themselves, but they had been targeted because of their presumed support of the Thai government.^[4] The creation of the 15th Infantry Division was announced in January 2005.^[5] Defence Minister, General Samphan Boonyanan, was quoted as saying that the new unit, dubbed the "Development Division", would not be a combat unit for fighting Islamic militants, but rather its main mission would be to assist local citizens and develop the region. The military will not ignore its general function of providing safety for the citizens of the region, he added. He said that troops for the new division would undergo training to give them a good understanding of local residents, the vast majority of whom are ethnic Malay Muslims. The division is in fact a transformation of the Pranburi-based 16th Infantry Division. It will now be headquartered at Fort Ingkhayutthaborihan in Pattani, complete with its battalions and companies of military police and communications and aviation personnel, he said. It will also have three separate infantry battalions, one each in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. Each battalion will include three companies of medical, engineering, and psychological warfare personnel, he said. The government will allocate a budget of more than 18 billion baht for the division over the next four years.^[6]

The 15th Infantry Division is being established as a permanent force to handle security problems in the Deep South. The division is based in Pattani and is expected to have a combined force of around 10,000. The establishment of this new division, approved by the government in 2005, has yet to be completed. As of this writing, some 7,000 troops deployed in the Deep South are affiliated to this division."^[7]

Organization

15th Infantry Division Headquarters

15th Infantry Division
- 151st Infantry Regiment
  - 1st Infantry Battalion
  - 2nd Infantry Battalion
  - 3rd Infantry Battalion
- 152nd Infantry Regiment
  - 1st Infantry Battalion
  - 2nd Infantry Battalion
  - 3rd Infantry Battalion
- 153rd Infantry Regiment
  - 1st Infantry Battalion
  - 2nd Infantry Battalion
  - 3rd Infantry Battalion
- Support Service Regiment
  - Logistic and Service Battalion
  - Maintenance Battalion
  - Medical Battalion
  - Psychological Operations Company
- 31st Cavalry Squadron
- 15th Combat Engineer Battalion
- 15th Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols Company
- 15th Signal Corp Battalion

References

^ Patani
^ Search – Global Edition – The New York Times Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine. International Herald Tribune (29 March 2009). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.
^ Thailand's counter-insurgency operations Archived 3 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Janes.com (19 November 2007). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.
^ Data from the (governmental) Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, cited in ISRANews Archived 1 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine report, 4 January 2013
^ Robert Karniol, 'Thailand boosts military in troubled south,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 23 February 2005, Vol. 42, No. 8, p. 12
^ Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, New Thai army regiment to battle southern militants [sic – this is a division], BBC Monitoring International Reports, 16 February 2005.
^ International Crisis Group, 'Update Briefing: Stalemate in Southern Thailand,' Asia Briefing No. 113, Bangkok/Brussels, 3 November 2010, 3

[1] Patani

[2] Search – Global Edition – The New York Times Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine. International Herald Tribune (29 March 2009). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.

[3] Thailand's counter-insurgency operations Archived 3 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Janes.com (19 November 2007). Retrieved on 2012-01-18.

[4] Data from the (governmental) Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, cited in ISRANews Archived 1 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine report, 4 January 2013

[5] Robert Karniol, 'Thailand boosts military in troubled south,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 23 February 2005, Vol. 42, No. 8, p. 12

[6] Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, New Thai army regiment to battle southern militants [sic – this is a division], BBC Monitoring International Reports, 16 February 2005.

[7] International Crisis Group, 'Update Briefing: Stalemate in Southern Thailand,' Asia Briefing No. 113, Bangkok/Brussels, 3 November 2010, 3

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