Border Patrol Police

Border Patrol Police (ตำรวจตระเวนชายแดน)
Border Patrol Police
Active	1951–present
Country	Thailand
Branch	Royal Thai Police
Type	Paramilitary force
Role	Border Security Counter-insurgency

The Border Patrol Police (BPP) (Thai: ตำรวจตระเวนชายแดน) is a Thai paramilitary force responsible for border security and counter-insurgency.

The Thai Border Patrol Police was organized in the 1951 with assistance from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Although technically part of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), the BPP has always enjoyed a great deal of autonomy within the national headquarters as well as in its field operations. The royal family was a principal patron of the organization. This traditional relationship benefited both the palace and its paramilitary protectors. Many BPP commanders were former army officers.

Platoons of 32-men form the basic operating units of the BPP. Each platoon is supported by one or more heavy weapons platoons stationed at the regional and area RTP headquarters. PARU can airlift BPP platoons to troubled areas when an emergency arises. Armed with modern light infantry equipment, the BPP also benefited from training by United States Army Special Forces advisers who helped establish an instruction program during the 1960s.

The BPP served as an important adjunct to the Thai military and often operated under army (and sometimes the Royal Thai Marine Corps) control during counterinsurgency operations.

BPP units stationed along the Cambodian and Laotian borders following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1979 often served as a first line of defense and bore the brunt of Vietnamese attacks.

In order to carry out its intelligence mission, the BPP operates numerous civic action programs to cultivate and maintain rapport with remote area villagers and hill tribes. They have built and operate schools in remote areas and help the army construct offices for civilian administration. They operate rural medical aid stations, give farmers agricultural assistance, and have built small airstrips.