Navy junkets shame those in uniform

Photos like this and comments by 'Watchdog.ACT' (logo bottom right) have brought the public into the debate about the trip by Royal Thai Navy officers on a "study group" to Japan. (From FB)

It's happened again and we have every reason to be angry.

This time "it" involved naval officers who went on two separate overseas "study trips" that are questionable. They shared the same destination, which was Japan.

The dubious trips were revealed by a watchdog webpage, which last week uploaded pictures that showed just how leisurely a time these navy officers had during their "study trip".

Ploenpote Atthakor is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.

From the posts -- which went viral -- we saw pictures of these officers skiing, having sumptuous dinners, with such special treats like giant crab, going on shopping sprees, and visiting places of interest which happened to be tourist destinations.

According to the webpage, the two trip took place in February this year.

News of the scandalous trips come less than three months after the navy inked the submarine deal despite public criticism. They also bring into question the privileges enjoyed by people in uniform.

We know how costly a trip to Japan, even without the VIP treatment, can be.

The trips lead to the question of whether the government's ban on overseas study trips is still valid. The government ordered state officials not to take any overseas trips, to save taxpayers' money, the exception being those that are deemed to be of the utmost importance. Even Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, on at least one occasion, spoke out against these trips.

Yet, it appears that while other state agencies have strictly followed the prime minister's lead, the boys in uniform still think they have certain privileges. The pictures of these naval officers simply confirm this.

Needless to say, such trips cast a bad light on these officers and the navy as a whole. And I believe there have been more trips that have not yet come to the public's attention.

Shortly after the webpage lifted the lid on these trips, a netizen who goes by a name with a naval rank, came out to defend his "colleagues" who, he said, deserved special treats after hard work and dangerous assignments and that leisure time during such a trip should be acceptable.

It's no wonder his rationale fuelled public anger. This netizen later took his post down, no doubt in a bid to allow the outrage to die down.

But we cannot let the matter die down. On the contrary, we hope the government will take serious action, and prove that there are no double standards.

We still remember a similar case which came to public attention in February this year (coincidentally the same month these naval officers had a whale of a time in Japan), when the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) took steps to punish top administrators at Chiang Mai Rajabhat University for making an unjustified study trip to China and Europe.

According to the OAG, Prapan Thammachai, rector of Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, together with two vice-rectors and members of the university council, took a nine-day trip abroad, starting in China before flying to three European countries during March 2014 in what turned out to be for tourism purposes.

As a result, Mr Prapan, and one vice rector, were told to pay back more than six million baht to the university and faced a disciplinary probe for misuse of state funds and corruption. The auditor-general was to forward the case, which involves a criminal offence, to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

It should be noted that the rector's China-Europe trip took place before the regime, which took power in May of the same year, issued the overseas travel ban.

If there is a probe against the naval officers, and we hope there will be, it must be handled by a third party and laid bare before the public. If those officers are found to have abused the rules, they must face punitive action, just like Chiang Mai Rajabhat University's top administrators.

In fact, those who approved the trips should also bear responsibility as it reflects their lack of judgement, not to mention ability to monitor their subordinates' behaviour.

If a probe is launched against these officers, we can expect them to vigourously defend the trips.

They have the right to do so, but they must produce convincing evidence and explain why their trip was necessary and why they were so luxurious.

In fact, the armed forces should be open about the trips their personnel have been on, and are about to take.

It's not too difficult to judge whether the trips were for study purposes, and really worth taxpayers' money.

There must be no double standards or these cases will damage the navy, and the regime even further.