Internal Security Operations Command

Internal Security Operations Command

กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในราชอาณาจักร
ISOC meeting with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in 2011
Agency overview
Formed	1965[1]
Preceding agencies	Central Security Command (CSC) Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC)
Type	Government agency
Jurisdiction	Nationwide
Headquarters	Ruen Ruedi Palace Nakhon Ratchasima Rd., Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand
Motto	Pali: Asādhuṃ Sādhunā Jine ('Conquer evil by the power of good')[2]
Annual budget	10,240.1 million baht (FY2019)
Minister responsible	Srettha Thavisin, Director
Parent agency	Office of the Prime Minister
Key document	Internal Security Act
Website	Official website

Internal Security Operations Command (Thai: กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในราชอาณาจักร; RTGS: kong amnuaikan raksa khwam mankhong phainai ratcha-anachak ) or ISOC (Thai: กอ.รมน.; RTGS: khor ror mor nor) is the political arm of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.^[3] It was responsible for the suppression of leftist groups from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period it was implicated in atrocities against activists and civilians. ISOC was implicated in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.^[4]

After Thaksin was deposed by the 2006 Thai coup d'état, the junta transformed ISOC into a government within a government, giving it wide-reaching authority over the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO). The junta also authorized it to help provincial authorities in marketing OTOP products.^{[5][failed verification]}

In June 2007, the junta approved a draft national security bill which gave ISOC sweeping powers to handle "new forms of threats" to the country. The ISOC revamp modelled it after the US Department of Homeland Security and gave ISOC sweeping new powers to allow the ISOC chief to implement security measures, such as searches without seeking prime ministerial approval.^[6]