| Border Patrol Police ตำรวจตระเวนชายแดน | |
|---|---|
 Patch of Border Patrol Police | |
 Emblem of the Border Patrol Police | |
| Common name | Tor. Chor. Dor. (ต.ช.ด.) |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1951 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Thailand |
| General nature | |
| Specialist jurisdictions |
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| Operational structure | |
| Parent agency | Royal Thai Police |
| Notables | |
| Significant Conflicts | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheBorder Patrol Police (BPP;Thai:ตำรวจตระเวนชายแดน) is a Thai paramilitary police under the jurisdiction of theRoyal Thai Police, responsible forborder security,counterinsurgency,disaster relief,law enforcement, operating in difficult terrain, and supportingriot control.
The Thai Border Patrol Police was organized in 1951 with assistance from theUnited StatesCentral Intelligence Agency. Although technically part of theRoyal Thai Police (RTP), the BPP has always enjoyed a great deal of autonomy within the national headquarters as well as in its field operations. The royal family was a principal patron of the organization. This traditional relationship benefited both the palace and its paramilitary protectors. In the past, many BPP commanders were former army officers.[1] Nowadays, all BPP officers and commanders only have police background.
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Platoons of 32-men form the basic operating units of the BPP. Each platoon is supported by one or more heavy weapons platoons stationed at the regional and area RTP headquarters. PARU can airlift BPP platoons to troubled areas when an emergency arises. Armed with modern light infantry equipment, the BPP also benefited from training byUnited States Army Special Forces advisers who helped establish an instruction program during the 1960s.
The BPP served as an important adjunct to the Thai military and often operated under army (and sometimes theRoyal Thai Marine Corps) control during counterinsurgency operations.
BPP units stationed along the Cambodian and Laotian borders following theVietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1979 often served as a first line of defense and bore the brunt ofVietnamese attacks.
In order to carry out its intelligence mission, the BPP operates numerouscivic action programs to cultivate and maintain rapport with remote area villagers and hill tribes. They have built and operate schools in remote areas and help the army construct offices for civilian administration. They operate rural medical aid stations, give farmers agricultural assistance, and have built small airstrips.
The Border Patrol Police Parachute Aerial Resupply Unit (BPP PARU or PARU) is the BPP'sspecial forces unit responsible for training and supporting airborne operations, airborne reinforcement, disaster and accident rescue, and supporting special missions under the command of the BPP. All members of PARU are trained for airborne operations, including free-fall jumps. PARU can provide support to BPP headquarters within two hours. The PARU in the 1950s and 1960s was a small unit used for clandestine missions outside Thailand. It was largelyCIA-funded at that time.[3]: 51 PARU's counts its founding from 27 April 1954, when King Bhumibol visited the opening ceremony of the PARU Company'sNaresuan Camp inHua Hin.[4]: 92
The Border Patrol Police has a Long Range Surveillance unit. Under the Border Patrol Police Division 44, Phaya Lithai Camp,Yala Province, established training courses and set up a unit since 2010.[5]
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The BPP organized the paramilitary Volunteer Defense Corps or VDC (theOr Sor) in 1954 to provide law and order and emergency response. This was done in response to complaints of banditry and harassment by subversive organizations. The VDC had the responsibility of protecting inhabitants from threats and intimidation by guerrillas who had infiltrated the border provinces from neighboring Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. Its mission is to deny insurgents access to food and other supplies that made villages and farms their targets. VDC members were trained by the BPP. In 1974 it was expanded by theInternal Security Operations Command (ISOC) to urban areas to fight left-wing political activism. In the late 1980s, VDC strength was estimated at 33,000, down from a peak of about 52,000 in 1980. Part of the reduction was absorbed by the formation of the Thahan Phran, a paramilitary unit formed to counter communist insurgents. They were reinvigorated and have played a role in the fighting theSouth Thailand insurgency since 2004.[6]
The BPP, together with theMinistry of Interior, backed and sponsored the 1971 establishment of the "Village Scouts", a right-wing rural vigilante group and paramilitary militia.[7] The village scouts were to counter thecommunist insurgency and the pro-democracy movement of the 1970s. Soon after its creation, five million Thais (10 percent of the population) went through the organisation's initiation rite and took its five-day training course.[citation needed] The Village Scouts conducted the anti-leftist rally that led to theThammasat University massacre and bloody coup d'état on 6 October 1976.[8] The Village Scouts disappeared around 1981, but were revived around 2004 against the backdrop of theMuslim separatist conflict in south Thailand.[9] The village scout concept was extended toลูกเสือบนเครือข่ายอินเทอร์เน็ต ('Village Scouts on the Internet') internet activities with the creation of the "Cyber Scouts".[10]
The 10,600 memberThahan Phran ("Rangers") was formed as a volunteermilitia force deployed to active trouble spots along the Cambodian and Burmese borders. The paramilitary organization had 32 regiments and 196 companies. The Thahan Phran gained considerable publicity and incurred significant casualties duringVietnamese bombardments and local assaults along the Cambodian border.[11] Since 2004, they have deployed to counter theSouth Thailand insurgency.[12]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2025 ed.).CIA. (Archived 2004 edition.)
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