First batch of Thai troops from Sudan arrives home

BANGKOK, June 5 (TNA) - The first batch of Thai troops joining in the UN-led peacekeeping force in Sudan arrived home Tuesday morning, amid a warm welcome of a military delegation and their relatives. Army Chief of Staff General Sirichai Dithakul, who heads the military delegation to receive the 220 Thai soldiers of the Thai-Darful ad-hoc 980 task force at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport, thanked the Thai army personnel for their honourable performances praised and recognized by the United Nations and locals. General Sirichai particularly expressed his appreciation to the Thai troops for having successfully introduced the Sufficiency Economy Principle advised by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej to rural people in Sudan and having been lauded by the United Nations as a model military unit to be learned and followed suit by the UN-led peacekeeping forces deployed in other areas of Sudan. According to the army chief of staff, the remaining Thai troops of the 812-member Thai-Darful ad-hoc 980 task force, led by Colonel Narongrit Panikabutr, are scheduled to return home from June 5-8, after completing their nine-month mission in civil-war hit Sudan. (TNA)