Military

1. Capabilities

1.1. Multiple Launch Rocket System Program development

1.2. Capabilities are restricted to territorial defense

1.3. Army is well equipped for the region

1.4. Navy is attempting to develop a modest blue-water capability

1.5. Air Force operates a number of multirole fighters and strike aircraft

1.6. Overall capabilities are not very high

2. Conflicts

2.1. Domestic

2.1.1. Southern Malay-Muslim separatist insurgency

2.1.1.1. Cyclical problem since 1960's

2.1.2. May 2010-violence in Bangkok (political unrest)

2.2. Foreign

3. Doctrine

3.1. Doctrinal shift from an internal security priority to a more conventional focus on external defense

3.2. Stresses the procurement of high-technology arms

4. Finance

4.1. 1.8% of GDP

4.2. Increased spending occurred throughout the 1990's

5. Branches

5.1. Royal Thai Army (Kongthap Bok Thai, RTA)

5.2. Royal Thai Air Force (Kongthap Agard Thai, RTAF)

5.3. Royal Thai Navy (Kongthap Ruea Thai, RTN)

5.3.1. Includes Royal Thai Marine Corps

6. Leaders

7. Assertion of Power

7.1. Wants to assert its presence regionally

7.2. Capabilities overshadow Laos and Cambodia specifically

7.3. Threatened most by Myanmar

8. Steady Growth

8.1. Manpower has increased by almost 100,000 over the past 10 years because of modernization and increased spending