"But when I look at the Defence Ministry's budget allocations, I wonder whether the armed forces will be able to reshape themselves," he said. He said the Defence Ministry has requested 198 billion baht, an increase of 3.8 billion baht from the 2023 fiscal year. A breakdown of budget spending shows that spending on military personnel alone was increasing every year and was now 55% of the total, and in particular, the army has spent about 64% of the total budget, he said. According to sources, the Defence Ministry's budget allocations were often slashed during past economic crises. Mr Aekkarat also criticised the Defence Ministry's secret budget, saying the law does not allow parliament to scrutinise this budget.
