By his own account, at the Police Academy Thaksin hated learning law and other "uncreative" subjects. He wanted to quit, but his father dissuaded him. However, he enjoyed the physical training, the camaraderie, and especially the discipline. In his account of the earlier two years at cadet school, he noted, "the most impressive thing was that everyone had to respect those in command, and listen to those with seniority, without exception. At the Police Academy he discovered "the most valuable thing in my life," the motto for the armed forces invented by King Rama V: "1. Nothing is impossible; 2. death rather than defeat; 3. death rather than failure in duty. The path to pride and glory is not strewn with alluring fragrant flowers." (Thaksin 1999, 56, 59). In 1973 he graduated top of his class of ninety police cadets. He spent an uneventful six months attached to the Border Patrol Police before taking the scholarship granted for his top position to study an M.A. in criminal justice Eastern Kentucky University in the US.