Pita Limjaroenrat, the former Move Forward Party leader, issued a formal apology to active-duty soldiers yesterday, attempting to distance himself from past rhetoric that has long fueled friction between his political movement and the military.
He made the apology while speaking at a “Pita US Tour” event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles yesterday, where he met members of the Thai community in the United States to exchange views on Thailand’s political future and public participation.
During the discussion, Mr Pita addressed his controversial comment, “What are soldiers for?”, made during the 2023 election campaign. He said the remark referred to so-called “golf-course soldiers” rather than troops deployed in combat, acknowledging it as a personal mistake that he continues to regret.
“I would like to apologise to frontline soldiers, junior-ranking soldiers and true professional soldiers who sacrifice themselves to protect our country,” Mr Pita said.
He explained that the comment was made in the context of soldiers wearing expensive watches, those involved in coups, or those he described as “golf-course soldiers”.
Mr Pita admitted he had failed to clearly distinguish between his respect for soldiers serving on the battlefield and his criticism of military involvement in governance, adding that the remark no longer reflected the current situation.
The apology comes amid growing political pressure on the People’s Party (PP), which was reconstituted from the MFP, as it seeks to consolidate support ahead of the February 8 election.
Since the MFP’s dissolution, critics have continued to portray its successor as holding an adversarial or dismissive attitude toward the military, observers said.
The shift in tone also comes as the military has gained increased public sympathy following recent border clashes with Cambodia.
Heightened security concerns and nationalist sentiment have strengthened public support for the armed forces, making open criticism of the military a potential electoral risk.
Sirikanya Tansakul, the PP’s deputy leader and prime ministerial candidate, said it was natural for a party viewed as the frontrunner to face sustained attacks during the campaign.
“If opponents do not focus on attacking us, what else would they do?” she said.
She added that political competition should focus on the creative presentation of policies rather than personal or partisan attacks.
