Pongporn ‘will receive benefits’

DEPUTY Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has insisted that Pongporn Parmsneh, the outgoing chief of the National Buddhism Office (NBO), will not end up in an inactive post following his transfer. 
Late last month, Pongporn was ordered to take up the post of an inspector-general at the Office of the Prime Minister. The transfer will take effect as soon as the order gets royal endorsement.
“When he gets to his assignment in the new position, he will receive benefits,” Wissanu said yesterday. 
He denied that Pongporn could be the next Thawil Pliansri, who took to the court to fight against what he saw as an illegitimate transfer order. Thawil was transferred out of the helm of the National Security Office during Yingluck Shinawatra-led government. He has finally won the case and got back his post. 
At present, the transfer of Pongporn has not yet been royally endorsed. 
Wissanu yesterday evaded questions as to whether he would invite Pongporn to a heart-to-heart talk. When asked, the deputy prime minister also declined to reveal if PM’s Office Minister Ormsin Chivapruck and Justice Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana pushed for the transfer. 
Pongporn earlier this week spoke up that he did not willingly agree to the transfer as he believed the move would cause damages to the NBO. 
Speculation is rife that Pongporn might have been suddenly kicked out because he had defied several senior monks and famous temples in investigating alleged corruption inside the monastic compounds. Ormsin and Suwaphan, according to an informed source, had lately met with some senior monks who wished to have Pongporn transferred. 
Pongporn initially rose to the helm of the NBO in February based on an order issued by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha in the latter’s capacity as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). 
“But his transfer is not against the NCPO order,” Wissanu said. 
Jirachai Moontongroy, permanent secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister, had planned to assign Pongporn to oversee the southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla and Satun. 
“If people can live there, he should be able to work there. Aside, he may not have to be based there all the time,” Jirachai said. 
He insisted that such assignment was not a persecution against Pongporn. 
The Office of the Prime Minister has 18 zones for its inspectors-general to oversee but now the office has just nine inspectors-general, he said. 
“So, when there is a new inspector general coming, I want him to ease the workload of the existing inspectors-general,” Jirachai said. 
He pointed out that Inspector General Surasak Riangkrul had been in charge of two zones, one covering northern provinces and one covering the Lower South for some time already. 
“Given that these zones are far apart, I have decided to remove him from the Lower South duty. The decision was made around the time the Cabinet decided to transfer Pongporn to my office. 
That’s why he has been assigned to take care of the Lower South,” Jirachai said.