General Saprang Kalayanamitr (; , also known as Poei () or Big Poei (), 8 July 1948 – 21 November 2023) was an officer of the Royal Thai Army, Assistant Secretary-General of the Council for National Security (CNS), Commander of the junta's 14,000-man anti-protest force, chairman of the Board of Directors of Airports of Thailand (AoT), and also Chairman of the Boards of TOT and CAT Telecom, two major Thai state-owned telecommunication companies.
Saprang served for nearly three decades in the army cavalry corps, and was promoted to 3rd Army Region Commander in 2005. He was a key leader of the September 2006 coup that overthrew the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The Nation, Secret military division deployed, 27 December 2006Bangkok Post, CNS to have own B500m peace-keeping force , 27 December 2006
Saprang was one of the fiercest critics of Thaksin Shinawatra, calling him a "traitor" and claiming that he should be "banished to live forever in the jungle."The Nation, Deposed PM criticized for attacking sufficiency economy, 7 February 2007 Upon appointment to chair AoT and TOT, he purged the management, initiated investigations into the overthrown government, and donated 200 million baht of the agency's funds to the Army. He fired the President of TOT for questioning an 800 million baht donation that the agency made to the Army. As head of CAT Telecom, he was accused of blocking attempts to launch PTV, a new television station founded by ex-leaders of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party.
Saprang was considered one of the top contenders to lead the army and the junta after CNS leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin's mandatory retirement in 2007.The Nation, 10 Newsmakers in 2006, 3 January 2007 However, in September 2007 he was demoted to be Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Defense Ministry, while his rival, General Anupong Paochinda, was promoted to lead the Army. As a result, Saprang retired from the Army in 2008.
Education and early career Education Saprang was born into a military family on 8 July 1948 in Lampang Province. He graduated from the 7th Class of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School and the 18th Class of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. His classmates included General Paisan Katanyu (appointed Deputy Army Commander after the coup), Admiral Bannawit Kengrien (appointed to the National Legislative Assembly after the coup, and leader of its Suvarnabhumi Airport committee), and General Lertrat Rattavanich.Bangkok Post, Loyal to the very tip of his tongue , 15 August 2006m&c, The Inside Story: Thailand’s military coup – Act 1, 8 January 2007 He later graduated from the 43rd class of the National Defence College of Thailand in 2001. His NDC thesis concerned the role of military forces in the control of illegal narcotics. His NDC classmates included Kraisi Karnasuta, governor of state energy company EGAT. รายชื่อเอกสารวิจัยส่วนบุคคลของนักศึกษา วปอ. รุ่นที่ ๔๓ ประจำปี ๒๕๔๓ - ๒๕๔๔
Early career
Saprang started his military career in 1969 as rifle platoon leader in the 3rd Infantry Battalion, 4th Regimental Combat Team. He claimed to have fought 200 battles during the course of his military career.
Saprang was appointed commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment in 1982, stationed in Nakhon Sawan Province (near the northwestern border with Burma). In 1985, he became commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion in the 19th Infantry Regiment, stationed at Surasee Fort, Kanchanaburi (on the western border with Burma).
Saprang was then promoted to Regimental Commanding Officer of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School in 1990. In 1991, he began a six-year stint as Regimental Commanding Officer of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
In April 1997, Saprang was shortly transferred to the Ministry of Defense as a staff officer, before being promoted in October 1997 to Commanding General of the 15th Infantry Division, at the time stationed in Pran Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. In 2003, he was promoted to 3rd Corps Commander.ผู้จัดการออนไลน์, ถอดรหัสแม่ทัพภาค 3 : “ม้าของชาติ และพระเจ้าแผ่นดิน” (Decoding the 3rd Army: "Horses of the Nation and the King"), 19 July 2006 In 2004, it was strongly rumoured that Saprang might be promoted to command the 4th Army, replacing General Pongsak Ekbannasingh. General Pongsak had been criticized for ineffectually fighting the South Thailand insurgency after 39 successful arson attacks occurred in just one night.Bangkok Post, Chettha Confirms 4th Army Chief Pongsak Will Be Replaced, 12 March 2004 Pongsak ended up being replaced in April 2004 by Pisarn Wattanawongkhiri.Xinhua, Thai military reshuffled amid escalating violence in south, 30 March 2004
2006 Coup
In a surprise to many observers, Saprang was promoted to 3rd Army Area Commander in October 2005, headquartered in Phitsanulok and responsible for most of northern and northeastern Thailand. Analysts had expected Prime Minister Thaksin to promote his own classmates from AFAPS Class 10 to the powerful position instead. At the same time, also in a surprise move, Deputy Army Commander Sonthi Boonyaratkalin was promoted to Army Commander.
Saprang and Sonthi started planning for the coup 7 to 8 months in advance, in approximately February 2006. Coup planning occurred prior to the April 2006 elections, during Thaksin's controversial sale of Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings and the peak of the People's Alliance for Democracy's campaign to oust the government.The Nation, The persistent myth of the 'good' coup, 2 October 2006กรุงเทพธุรกิจ, พล.ท.สพรั่ง กัลยาณมิตร"วางแผนปฏิรูปการปกครองมาแล้ว 7-8 เดือน", 24 September 2006Thanapol Eawsakul, "The Coup for Democracy with the King as Head of State", Fa Dieo Kan special issue, 2007 In July 2006, Saprang gave an interview where he stated that Thai politics was below standard and that the Kingdom's leadership was weak. He also claimed that Thailand had a false democracy.คมชัดลึก, [มทภ.3ชี้ชาติไร้ผู้นำ ตท.10ย้ำชัดไม่ยึดอำนาจ], 19 July 2006 He denied that such criticism constituted military interference in politics. At the same time, the Thai media speculated that in the October 2006 annual Army reshuffle, Saprang would not be promoted to Assistant Army Commander and would not be allowed to retain his position of 3rd Army Area Commander. In July, Saprang's own Deputy Commander in the 3rd Army Area, Major General Manas Paorik, warned the media that "a certain military officer who aspires to become Assistant Army Commander" was planning a coup.
In the weeks leading up to the coup, Saprang openly mobilised soldiers and northern residents to rebel against the government. Saprang played a key role on the evening of 19 September 2006, securing Thaksin's home town and power base of Chiang Mai.Straits Times, Straight-talking general on the rise, 21 February 2007 That same night, he was appointed assistant Secretary-General of the CNS. The coup was executed just a week before the announcement of the Army's annual reshuffle.
After the 2006 coup A week after the coup, Saprang was promoted to Assistant Army Commander, alongside fellow coup leader Anupong Paochinda.The Nation, , 29 September 2006 His predecessor, General Pornchai Kranlert, had not taken part in the coup and was transferred to an inactive position.The Nation, Ousted PM's allies receives lenient punishment, 29 September 2006 Saprang was also promoted from Lieutenant General to General.
CNS Special Operations Center On 27 December 2006, it was revealed that the Thai Cabinet had approved over half a billion baht worth of funding for a 14,000-man secret, anti-protest, special operations force, of which General Saprang was the commander. The so-called CNS Special Operations Center, funded with 556 million baht diverted from the Defense Ministry, Royal Thai Police, and government emergency reserve fund, had been secretly established by the CNS on 1 December 2006 in order to control protests.
TOT and CAT Telecom Saprang was appointed by the junta to become chairman of the Board of Directors of Airports of Thailand (AoT) and also Chairman of the Boards of TOT and CAT Telecom, two major state-owned telecommunication companies.The Nation, , 26 January 2007 Saprang's first move as TOT Chairman was to hand-pick three Army colonels and vocal Thaksin-critic Vuthiphong Priebjrivat to sit on the state enterprise's board of directors. Saprang transferred TOT President Somkuan Bruminhent to an inactive position and appointed Vuthiphong new president.Bangkok Post, THAILAND: New TOT board may order cleanup, 31 January 2007 He then hand-picked all 10 other directors.The Nation, TOT chief seeks justice for agency, 18 February 2007Bangkok Post, Secret deals at the TOT?, 26 June 2007
Saprang noted in an interview that, "if telecommunication businesses are in private hands, the country won't be safe." The junta had earlier announced plans to cancel the initial public offering of both TOT and CAT Telecom and to merge the two state enterprises.The Nation, Sweeping changes in state telecom boards, 28 October 2006The Nation, Call for end to policy corruption, 16 October 2006
Under Saprang's leadership, TOT reaffirmed its ownership rights to all existing backbone telecommunications networks under a new strategy to act as a "genuine" national telecom company. The new strategy was expected to increase political and business tensions. Under the "build-transfer-operate" (BTO) concession agreements that TOT signed with private telecom operators, the TOT technically owns all fixed-line, mobile, and optical fibre networks in Thailand. However, it had never exercised those rights in the past.Bangkok Post, TOT to assert its rights over network, 15 March 2007
Vuthiphong was fired from the TOT board and his position of acting TOT President in June 2007. He immediately accused the Army of using the TOT as an unmonitored slush fund. He claimed that an unnamed Army unit had requested that TOT buy 800 million baht worth of electronic equipment. Upon receiving the request, Vuthipong demanded to know why neither the Army nor the Defence Ministry used their own secret budgets to purchase the equipment, and why an internal Army unit, rather than the kingdom's main national security organisations, had made the request. Saprang denied that there was any lack of transparency in the request for financial support.The Nation, , 22 June 2007 Vuthipong claimed that the equipment should only have cost 30 million baht, not 800 million baht. He was fired and expelled from the board soon after refusing to sign off on the deal.Bangkok Post, , 22 June 2007 The board later appointed Col. Natee Sukolrat as the new TOT President and accepted the army's donation request.Bangkok Post, TOT goes ahead with army project
Under his leadership, TOT's performance dropped. Revenues for the first half of 2007 fell 13 percent year-on-year, while net profit fell 36.1 percent. Fixed line revenue dropped 16 percent, and public telephone and international call revenue by 30 percent each.Bangkok Post, Forget about ever listing, minister tells TOT, 2 August 2007
As Chairman of CAT Telecom, Saprang was accused by the founders of PTV, a new satellite television station, of being behind CAT Telecom's refusal to grant an internet link from Bangkok to a satellite up-link station in Hong Kong. PTV was established by several ex-executives of the Thai Rak Thai party. CAT Telecom claimed that it never received PTV's application for internet access.The Nation, PTV says 'CAT attack' ruined debut , 2 March 2007