Budget panel members call for abolition of ISOC, Prayut-era reform office

Members of a parliamentary budget committee on Tuesday questioned the continued existence and spending of government agencies they said had overlapping functions and failed to deliver clear results.

During scrutiny of the 2027 budget, former Prachachat Party leader and prime ministerial adviser Wan Muhamad Noor Matha backed calls to abolish the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), citing the March 20 attack on Prachachat MP Kamonsak Leewamoh in Narathiwat. He said ISOC could not distance itself from the case because the vehicle used by the attackers belonged to its Narathiwat office.

Kamonsak escaped unharmed, while two people travelling with him were seriously injured. Investigators later found that two of the three firearms used in the attack had previously been in service with the Royal Thai Marine Corps. Police have arrested several suspects, including a former Marine, but authorities have not publicly identified the mastermind.

Wan Noor said ISOC’s duties largely duplicate those of the National Security Council, police, military and civilian authorities, and proposed returning personnel and budgets to their original agencies. He questioned whether ISOC had produced results commensurate with its spending and said its budget could instead be used to help low-income and sick people.

ISOC traces its origins to the Communist Suppression Operations Command, established in 1965 to coordinate counterinsurgency operations. It was renamed ISOC in 1974 and operates today under the 2008 Internal Security Act.

Democrat Party MP Amporn Pinasa separately questioned more than 90 million baht allocated to ISOC for anti-drug operations, asking why the drug problem continued to worsen despite years of spending.

Amporn, a party-list MP and deputy chair of the House committee scrutinising the fiscal 2027 budget bill, said ISOC was responsible for monitoring, assessing and issuing warnings on domestic security threats but had yet to demonstrate clear results in tackling drugs.

He asked ISOC to provide evidence of warnings and assessments sent to enforcement agencies, including what action was taken and the outcomes, and to explain how the proposed budget would be coordinated with other agencies to disrupt drug networks and deliver measurable results.

Committee members also questioned ISOC’s vehicle rental costs and more than 2.2 billion baht in unspent funds that may not be disbursed by the end of fiscal 2026.

ISOC Secretary-General Gen Chaiyapruek Duangprapat defended the agency, saying it was needed to bridge coordination gaps among security bodies. He cited the US Department of Homeland Security as an example of a coordinating body operating alongside police, the FBI, CIA and military forces, and said ISOC was ready to consider criticism and improve its operations.

Chaiyapruek also denied allegations of “ghost soldiers” receiving allowances, saying payments were made only to personnel assigned to official duties. He said military inspectors had been ordered to investigate suspected irregularities and that anyone found responsible would face punishment.

Senior journalist and committee member Veera Theerapat separately called for the abolition of the Office of National Reform, Strategy and Reconciliation, a body established under the military junta during former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.

Veera said the office had no specific mission of its own and that its work on national reform, the 20-year national strategy and reconciliation overlapped with other agencies. He proposed transferring its 77 personnel back to other state bodies, warning that allowing the agency to continue could see it expand “like an amoeba” dividing its cells.

The office’s deputy director, Pol Col Watanyu Witthaypalothai, acknowledged the proposal after the committee chair asked the agency to consider it.

National Security Council Secretary-General Chatchai Bangchuad separately said the government’s target of ending violence in the southern border region by 2027 would be difficult to achieve as unrest continued. He said authorities planned to replace soldiers with territorial defence volunteers in some areas where conditions had improved and could lift special security laws in districts where the situation eased.

The comments came after former Prachachat Party leader and prime ministerial adviser Wan Muhamad Noor Matha backed calls to abolish ISOC during scrutiny of the 2027 budget, questioning its role, spending and links to the March 20 attack on Prachachat MP Kamonsak Leewamoh in Narathiwat.

Asked about the proposal, Anutin, who also serves as ISOC director, said he had not discussed it with Wan Noor. He said Wan Noor was from the southern border region and was reflecting local concerns, adding that the government should explain its position and that he believed all sides were working to the best of their ability.

Anutin dismissed suggestions that the disagreement could become a sensitive issue, noting that Wan Noor chaired his advisory board and was expected to join him on an upcoming visit to Malaysia. Asked again about abolishing ISOC, he said: “How could it be abolished? It has been part of Thailand for so many years.”