Social media has taken up arms over news that a naval college’s field trip to Japan was marked by Onsen springs and skiing, more so than training and development.
The corruption watchdog group Watchdog ACT has revealed the details of a trip to Japan taken by a navy college cohort which was sanctioned by the Naval Education Department. A significant portion of the itinerary appears to bear no relevance to the trip’s formal purpose of ‘observing work’ abroad.
Highlights of the trip included visits to the Fijiten Snow Resort, the Asahi Beer Factory, the Sapporo Beer Factory and shopping at Shinsaibashi-Suji.
“This hard work involved an allowance of 2,100 baht a day,” reported Watchdog ACT.
Social media has reacted with outrage, with the Facebook post by Watchdog ACT detailing the trip’s itinerary shared by over 1,400 people.
But one member of the navy took to Facebook to argue the trip was justified by the stressful and dangerous nature of the military’s work.
“Before kindly voicing criticism, [keep in mind] our work is exhausting. We perform dangerous duties in the three Southern border provinces, while all of you sleep in your homes. Consuming fake news, and then criticising the people who protect you! We train hard and take many risks. The military should inevitably receive rest … We need to relax. It’s normal that we need to have some fun,” read the statement.
Last year, Watchdog ACT released details of a similar military college field trip to Europe. Military officials maintain that the field trip was not funded by tax payer’s money.
A compilation of pictures from the trip from Watchdog ACT. The text in the middle reads ‘Japan ‘fever’ Naval Chief-of-Staff Class 77 organises Onsen spring, skilling, and eating giant crab trip’