Post 2006-coup ISOC
Thaksin planned a major restructuring of the ISOC prior to the coup which overthrew him in September 2006. Soon after the coup, the junta released three of the Army suspects in the car bomb plot. Junta leader and Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin appointed himself head of the ISOC (its previous head had been the Prime Minister) and transformed the ISOC into a "government within a government", described as being equivalent to the US Department of Homeland Security. The ISOC was given wide-reaching authority over the National Counter Corruption Committee, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office. The new ISOC was criticized as being a shadowy puppet master pulling strings among existing agencies, answerable to no one but its leader.
To protect people in the south of Thailand from insurgency-related violence, the ISOC produced Jatukham Rammathep amulets for distribution to the Buddhist minority. The renowned animist amulets were believed by some to have magical powers to protect their holders from violence and large sums are paid for them. The plan was developed by Colonel Manas Khongpan, deputy director of the ISOC in Yala province.
The Cabinet of General Surayud Chulanont gave the ISOC staff a 84.3 million baht "reward". The ISOC had originally requested the reward in 2003, but was turned down by the Thaksin government.
Read more about this topic: Internal Security Operations Command
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