National Security Council (Thailand)

History

The National Security Council was established by the initiative of King Rama VI, whose purpose was to have a military mission to defend the country. Therefore, a council was formed on 11 December 1910, with the King as the chairman and the Chief-of-Staff of the Royal Thai Army as the Secretary-General of the council. Its duty was to provide recommendations and policies to protect the country during World War I.

On 27 July 1927, there was an amendment to the composition and authority and a new name: “the National Defense Council” until 14 July 1932, after the Siamese revolution of 1932, the National Defense Council was dissolved.

Later on 11 January 1944 during World War II, "the War Council" was established by issuing the War Council Act, which was the first Act regarding the National Security Council. Still, it was canceled because "the National Defense Council" was established instead by issuing the National Defense Council Act on 10 September 1944.

On 31 January 1956, a new National Defense Council Act was issued, repealing the old Act and remaining in use until the repeal of the National Defense Council Act, 1956, and the promulgation of the National Security Council Act, B.E. 1959 marks a change from the "National Defense Council" has been the "National Security Council (NSC)" until today.

One of the main responsibilities of the NSC since its inception has been to solve problems in the South Thailand insurgency, immigrant, Border control, Transnational crime and terrorism, including using the NSC to manage emergency situations such as political demonstration and disasters.

The NSC has created the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) to serve as an internal think tank tasked with spreading security expertise and advancing research on security policies.

Under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, NSC has been used as the main agency in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, with the establishment of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) Operations Center, with the NSC secretary-general as director to integrate all agencies in the country to deal with COVID-19. This situation causes Health security to be classified as one of the security that the National Security Council gives importance to as national security. During Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 which resulted in an energy and food crisis in Thailand, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has used NSC as the main agency in preparing plans to deal with energy and food crises in the short, medium, and long term.

In 2025, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra use the NSC as a mechanism for collaboration between security agencies to address scam city along the Myanmar–Thailand border. It is additionally used as a mechanism for deciding on the disconnection of electrical service, oil transportation and internet signals to scam city areas, preventing those areas from utilizing Thailand for the commission of crimes. Following the 2025 Cambodia–Thailand border conflict, Prime Minister Paetongtarn called a meeting of the NSC to find a resolution to the tense situation along the border. After extensive deliberations, the NSC resolved that the Royal Thai Army and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would jointly be responsible for addressing the issue. Their approach must adhere to the principle of protecting national sovereignty while simultaneously maintaining optimal relations with neighboring countries. The NSC mechanism for resolving border conflicts remained in use under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Membership

According to the provisions under the National Security Council Act B.E. 2559 (2016), Section 6 stipulates the establishment of the National Security Council, which consists of 11 ex officio members as follows:

In each meeting of the National Security Council, ministers, heads of government agencies, and/or experts, other than the council members, may be invited to participate on a temporary basis as ad hoc members. This applies if there are matters under consideration for which their opinions and votes are deemed appropriate for the meeting.

Secretariat

The Office of the National Security Council (NSC Office) plays a vital role in Thailand's security efforts. It provides administrative support to the National Security Council and is responsible for crafting policies and action plans to address various threats to the nation's interests. This includes monitoring security assessments, analyzing strategic security changes, identifying threats, and evaluating national power in both domestic and international security contexts.

The office operates with a workforce of approximately 300 civil servants and government employees. To ensure operational diversity, the NSC directly recruited its core staff, while transferring others from various government agencies. The internal divisions are responsible for critical missions—including domestic and international security, intelligence, border and maritime affairs, the Southern border, transnational threats and security policy. Each division is led by a director with a rank equivalent to a ministerial-level deputy director-general.

The NSC office is situated within the Government House of Thailand.

Lists of NSC Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the National Security Council is the highest executive of the Office of the National Security Council. Secretary-General of the National Security Council often serves as the counterpart of National Security Advisor of the United States.