General Torsak rejects rumours of early retirement
Police chief declares he has no health problems, saying talk of him quitting before retirement at the end of September is unfounded
National Police chief Pol General Torsak Sukvimol vehemently denied that he was planning to retire before his mandatory retirement at the end of September.
Instead, he said, he will resume his duties as commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police. He told reporters on Wednesday that he has been working with his deputies, including Pol General Kitrat Phanphet, without any issues.
He added that reports of him planning to retire before the end of September over health issues were just unfounded rumours.
“You can see I’m strong and healthy,” he told reporters.
Torsak also said that he was not worried about the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s decision to indict him for being unusually rich either.
The NACC voted to indict Torsak for failing to include a house he owns in England in his declaration of assets to the NACC upon taking office as police chief last year.
The NACC asked Torsak to acknowledge the charge on May 28, but he has reportedly asked for a postponement.
On March 20, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin transferred Torsak and his then-deputy Pol General Surachate Hakparn to inactive posts after a war of words broke out between them. Srettha set up a panel to investigate the conflict, in which both the cops accused each other and their subordinates of being involved in online gambling and other crimes.
Torsak was reinstated on June 20, but Surachate could not return as he was suspended from police service by acting National Police chief Pol Gen Kitrat on April 18.
On June 26, the police commission endorsed Kitrat’s order to dismiss Surachate from police service pending an investigation into his connection to an online gambling network.
Torsak on Wednesday declined to comment on the commission’s decision, saying he had no personal conflicts with Surachate.
