The King's Guard is a ceremonial designation given by the Monarchy of Thailand to the various units within the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Practical and real security of the Royal family has since 1992 been provided by the Royal Security Command, which is an agency that is completely independent of the armed forces.

History

The first Royal Guards unit was established by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in 1859, when he was still the heir. Initially, the Royal Guards were servants with duties such as scaring crows, which led to commoners referring to them as the "Mahat Lek Lai Ka," roughly translated as "Scarecrow Corps". When he succeeded his father in 1868, King Chulalongkorn took his Royal Guard and formed a 24-strong Royal Bodyguard, referred to as the "Thahan Song Lo" (Two-Dozen soldiers"). In 1870, the Royal Guard regiment were given the name the "King's Guard" and their duties included escorting the king while he travelled around the country. About the year 1875 the necessity for surveys in connection with improvements in the city of Bangkok, and for supervision in carrying out these improvements, led to the selection of certain officers of the royal bodyguard for training in this direction. These officers were formed into a special company called "Military Engineers of the Royal Bodyguard," in which Mr. James McCarthy held the rank of captain. A royal decree issued September 3, 1885, separated the surveyors from the royal bodyguard and created the Royal Survey Department, which is now the Royal Thai Survey Department, a Special Services Group of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters. The Royal Guards still exist down to the present and many more units from all branches of the armed forces were given this distinction. Today's King's Guard units serve as the Thai equivalent to the ceremonial guards units of various countries. However the role of the actual protection of the Royal family has been taken over by the Royal Security Command, established in 1992, with King Vajiralongkorn as its commander.

King's Guard units

The Royal Guards are today composed of 87 formations (formerly 94 battalions or equivalents), mostly found in the Royal Thai Army.

Royal Security Command

The Royal Security Command is in charge of two Infantry regiments:

Royal Thai Army

Royal Thai Navy

Cadet unit Royal Thai Marine Corps

Royal Thai Air Force

Cadet unit Royal Thai Air Force Security Force Regiment Anti-Aircraft Artillery

Former King's Guard units

Royal Thai Army

Infantry units 4th Infantry Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, King Chulalongkorn’s Guard (amalgamated with the Royal Security Command as King's Own Bodyguard Command in 2017) Signal units Medical units Ordnance units Transportation units

Royal Thai Navy

Royal Thai Marine Corps

Royal Thai Air Force

Squadrons

Royal Military Endorsement units

In addition, they established their own endorsement units. They are mostly retired, currently they have only three units left.

Royal Thai Army

Active

Retired

Gallery