Early Political Career
From 1986 to 1990, Chavalit was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army. He was one of the architects of the amnesty program that ended the insurgency of the Communist Party of Thailand. Under his leadership, the army started projects for rural development. These included the Isan Khiew programme in the underdeveloped North Eastern region and the New Hope programme in the conflict-ridden Southern provinces. For these projects he provided big businesses with lucrative contracts, including the leading agrobusiness corporation Charoen Pokphand (CP). Chavalit began his political career in 1988 as Defence Minister, with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister, in the administration of Chatichai Choonhavan. He held that position until 1991. In 1990, he founded his own party, the New Aspiration Party. The party was backed by the CP group and its chairman Dhanin Chearavanont. He then served as Minister of Interior in the cabinet of Chuan Leekpai from 1992 to 1994, and was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the government of Banharn Silpa-archa from 1995 to 1996.
Read more about this topic: Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
Famous quotes containing the words early, political and/or career:
“Some men have a necessity to be mean, as if they were exercising a faculty which they had to partially neglect since early childhood.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government is changed, and the march of civilization is a train of felonies, yet, general ends are somehow answered.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)