Volunteer Defense Corps (Thailand)

The Volunteer Defense Corps (Thai: กองอาสารักษาดินแดน; abbreviated VDC) is a Thai paramilitary under the authority of the Department Of Provincial Administration, Ministry of Interior.[1] It was founded in 1954 to provide extra military support to the Royal Thai Armed Forces and to protect local civilians living near Thailand's borders.[2][3]

Volunteer Defense Corps
Volunteer Defense Corps logo
Founded10 February 1954 (1954-02-10)
CountryThailand
TypeParamilitary
Part ofDepartment Of Provincial Administration, Ministry of Interior[1]
Garrison/HQBangkok, Thailand
Commanders
Minister of InteriorGen. VDC Gen. Anupong Paochinda

History

The Volunteer Defense Corps (colloquially called Or Sor in Thailand) was formally established on 10 February 1954[4][5] by the Thai Border Patrol Police (BPP) in response to complaints by civilians of banditry and harassment by insurgent and separatist organizations. Originally, the VDC's purpose was to protect civilians from insurgents who had crossed into Thai border provinces from neighboring Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia. VDC members were trained by the BPP and sent to protect civilians and farms from extortion and attacks by insurgents.[6]

In 1974, the VDC was expanded by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) to urban areas to fight communist insurgents. In the late-1980s, VDC strength was estimated at roughly 33,000, down from a peak of about 52,000 in 1980. Part of the decrease in numbers was due to the formation of the Thahan Phran, a paramilitary unit formed to counter communist insurgents, which absorbed some units of the VDC.

Since 2004, the VDC has had a major role in fighting the South Thailand insurgency.[2][7]

Volunteer Defense Corps ranks
Volunteer Defense Corps flag
Thai Volunteer Defense Corps uniform

Officers
OrderNATO CodeRanksAbbreviation
1OF-9Volunteer Defense Corps GeneralVDC Gen
2OF-5Volunteer Defense Corps ColonelVDC Col
3OF-4Volunteer Defense Corps Lieutenant ColonelVDC Lt Col
4OF-3Volunteer Defense Corps MajorVDC Maj
5OF-2Volunteer Defense Corps CaptainVDC Capt
6OF-1Volunteer Defense Corps First LieutenantVDC 1st Lt
7OF-1Volunteer Defense Corps Second LieutenantVDC 2nd Lt

Enlisted
OrderNATO CodeRanksAbbreviationInsignia
1OR-9 or OR-8Volunteer Defense Corps Sergeant MajorVDC Sgt Maj
2OR-5Volunteer Defense Corps SergeantVDC Sgt
3OR-4Volunteer Defense Corps CorporalVDC Cpl
4OR-3Volunteer Defense Corps Lance CorporalVDC Lcpl
5OR-2 or OR-1Volunteer Defense Corps MemberVDC Mbr
gollark: It's a convergent instrumental goal.
gollark: Well, sometimes people do/like wrong things, so you could be wrong.
gollark: I'm sure you'd like to think so.
gollark: Our bees are distributed throughout all space and time, and can do computations.
gollark: Unless I route through our US servers I guess.

References
  1. http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2559/A/006/26.PDF
  2. "Southern Thailand: The Problem with Paramilitaries". Asia Report. International Crisis Group (140): 14–15. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  3. "unk" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  4. "Volunteer Defense Corps Act, 1954" (PDF).
  5. "unk". Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  6. "Making sense of defense volunteers". The Phuket News. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  7. "Sixty-three Years of Volunteer Defense Corps". Department of Provincial Administration (in Thai). pp. 78–79. Retrieved 6 February 2020.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.