page_title: Royal Thai Army
section_title: Command and control
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Thai Army / Command and control
caption_attribution_description: English: The Ministry of Defence, Bangkok.
context_page_description: The Royal Thai Army or RTA is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
context_section_description: The number of army generals is unclear. One point of comparison: as of 1 November 2019, the US Army had 322 general officers for a force of 471,990 troops. Saiyud Kerdphol is Thailand's oldest general, a veteran of World War II and Korea who retired in 1983 as supreme commander. During his tenure, general officer numbers were based on the number of troops under their command. As of 2019, only 150–200 four-star generals occupy command positions. Speaking on the topic of army manpower, Saiyud declared that, "Everybody being a general is unbelievable. Full generals don't have a seat to sit in or a job to do."
  The Royal Army is commanded by the Commander of the Royal Thai Army (ผู้บัญชาการทหารบกไทย). 
  This position is considered the most powerful position in the Thai Armed Forces. As of 1 October 2018, the commander is General Apirat Kongsompong.
  Commander-in-Chief: General Apirat Kongsompong from 1 October 2018.
  Deputy Commander-in-Chief: General Nattaphon Narkphanit from 1 October 2018.
  Assistant Commander-in-Chief: General Sunai Praphuchanay from 1 October 2019.
  Assistant Commander-in-Chief: General Narongpan Jittkaewtae from 1 October 2019.
  Chief of Staff of the Army: General Teerawat Boonyawat from 1 October 2018.
caption: The Ministry of Defence, Bangkok
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "6000", "Image ImageLength": "4000", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 750D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:07:05 01:11:39", "Image Artist": "Supanut Arunoprayote", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "332", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1288", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1402", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5127", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:04:16 17:03:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:04:16 17:03:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "53/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "30", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5925", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3950", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1256", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "6000000/893", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2000000/297", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "128032001876", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 135, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "00002a4bbd"}