PM denies attending West Point on Thai quota

A young Hun Manet during military training at West Post. Hun Manet

#National

Synopsis: The Prime Minister rejects allegations that he was admitted to United States Military Academy on a scholarship for the Thai military, saying his admission was based on the official nomination process, a position backed by a former Australian defence attaché.

Prime Minister Hun Manet has dismissed claims that he attended the United States Military Academy on a quota allocated to the Thai military, calling the allegation a reflection of ignorance of the academy’s admission process for foreign cadets.

In a social media statement on Saturday, Mr Hun Manet said he was compelled to address the issue after Thai social media users commented on a post marking the 27th anniversary of his May 29, 1999 graduation from West Point.

He said similar claims had circulated in the past, but he had previously chosen not to respond. However, he said he decided to clarify the matter to end a persistent misunderstanding.

“My short answer is that I did not attend West Point through a quota from the Thai military,” he said.

Countries receiving places for foreign cadets at West Point cannot transfer those allocations to a third country, said Mr Hun Manet, former commander of the Royal Cambodian Army.

The United States alone determines which countries receive places at the academy and how many candidates may be admitted each year, he added.

Candidates must be nominated by their own country’s defence ministry and endorsed by the US Embassy in their home country.

He added that his degree from West Point identifies him as a Cambodian cadet.

“If I had used a Thai military quota to study there, then I would certainly have received a nomination from Thailand’s Ministry of Defence and an endorsement from the US Embassy in Thailand,” he said.

He said that in 1995 he received a nomination from Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence and an endorsement from the US Embassy in Cambodia, which enabled him to apply for admission.

“This clearly confirms that the quota under which I studied at West Point was one granted by the United States to Cambodia, not to Thailand as has been alleged,” he said.

Anyone wishing to verify the matter could seek confirmation from Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, the US Embassy in Thailand, or West Point itself, he said.

“I hope this clarification will put an end to the misunderstanding that I attended West Point using a quota from the Thai military, which is not true,” he said.

Mr Hun Manet graduated from West Point in 1999 and later pursued advanced studies in the United States and the United Kingdom before embarking on his military and political careers.

The West Point website says that foreign cadets attend the academy through arrangements approved by the American government and the academy.

In an email to Khmer Times over the weekend, Colonel Dougall McMillan, a former Australian military officer who served as the defence attaché for the Australian Embassy in Cambodia during the late 1990s and early 2000s, confirmed the prime chapter’s statement.

He added that he has firsthand knowledge of the circumstances.

“The US Army Defence Attaché in Cambodia at this time, Colonel Bill McMillan, was the officer who initiated, and was responsible for, the PM’s attendance at West Point,” Col McMillan said.

-Khmer Times-