21st Infantry Regiment (Thailand)

The 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen Sirikit's Guard () (ร.21 รอ.) is a King's Guard regiment under the 2nd Infantry Division, Queen Sirikit's Guard of the Royal Thai Army. The regiment was created in 1950. It is known as the Queen's Guard or Thahan Suea Rachini (, translated as "Queen's Tiger Soldiers"). It is sometimes referred to as the "Eastern Tigers". The regiment is based in Chonburi.

Origins
The 21st Regiment of the Royal Thai Army, or the Queen's Guard, was formed on 22 September 1950 at the request of United Nations Command. Its purpose was to help the US-led UN troops fight the Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers in the Korean War.

Campaigns
 Korean War service Called "Little Tigers".
 Voluntary service in the Vietnam War in 1968-1969 Called the "Queen's Cobra".
 Suppressed communist terrorists and helped civilians in Nan Province in 1975.
 Received the Order of Rama for stopping Vietnamese border incursions on the Thai-Cambodian border in 1983.

Organization
The regiment is composed of three subordinate units: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Battalions.

1st Infantry Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard

2nd Infantry Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard

3rd Infantry Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard

Uniform
 Rajchawanlop hat with black tuft with the royal cypher of the queen.
 Purple woolen top with black woolen mane embroidered with the queen's cypher on the wrist.
 Black woolen trousers with two purple stripes per side.

Training

Selection
Trainee must be serve in the 21st Regiment Queen's Guard or be permitted by the Royal Thai Army to attend the training.

Training content
The Queen's Tigers run a training course every two years. Its duration is 16 weeks.
 Physical and mental conditioning in preparation for the next phase. This phase takes four weeks. Only those who passing this phase move to the next phase.
 Forest and mountain training (four weeks): This phase focuses on infiltration by air and ground. Small unit tactics. Guerrilla warfare tactics. 
 Sea phase (three weeks): Water infiltration and tactical diving. Coastal patrolling, amphibious warfare, living off the sea, parachuting into water.
 Urban phase (three weeks): Urban operations, anti-terrorist ops, hostage rescue, tactical us of motorbikes.
 Air phase (two weeks): Parachuting, parachute packing and problem solving.

Award for completion
Those who successfully complete the tiger training course receive a military capabilities plate from the queen. The metal plate is decorated with a purple heart and the queen's cypher. The lower part is a blue ribbon contain the honorific "Tiger Soldier". To both sides of the purple heart are tigers soaring above mountains, waves, and clouds.

Political influence
In the 1990s, according to one academic, "...the Eastern Tigers amassed considerable wealth by trading gems with Cambodian Khmer Rouge insurgents based along the two countries' border, a racket which 'directly benefited'... some of its commanders. Within a decade, the Eastern Tigers dominated the Thai military." The Queen's Guard have since had an inordinate influence on Thai politics. Former Queen's Guard commanders led the May 2014 Thai coup d'état that toppled the elected government.

References

External links
 Official Website of the 1st Infantry Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard

Category:King's Guard units of Thailand
Category:Military units and formations established in 1950
Category:1950 establishments in Thailand