Deputy police chief goes on leave amid summons to hear charges
Pol General Surachate Hakparn, the most senior deputy National Police chief, said on Friday that he would be on leave until April 1.
Surachate, also known as “Big Joke” in the media, was transferred to inactive duties at the Prime Minister’s Office along with his boss, National Police chief Pol General Torsak Sukvimol, following growing conflicts in the Royal Thai Police.
Both of them reported to Teerapong Wongsiwawilas, the permanent secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, on Thursday morning, the day after a double-transfer order issued by the prime minister.
Surachate did not come to work on Friday at his new office at the Prime Minister’s Office, located inside the Government House compound.
He said during a phone interview that he did not know police officers had posted a summons notice at his Bangkok house on Friday morning, as he was on leave until April 1. He said he had submitted his leave request to the police chief, who had approved it before their double transfer, adding that he had also produced his leave document when reporting to the PM’s Office permanent secretary on Thursday.
A second summons notice was posted at Surachate’s house on Friday for him to hear money-laundering charges against him next Tuesday. In the previous summons, Surachate was told to report himself to hear the charges on March 21, but he failed to do so.
Surachate said that he had just arrived in the northeastern province of Nong Khai on Friday and also planned to go on a vacation with his wife and mother to England later this month.
“I will be back on April 1. I have never taken a long vacation,” he said, adding that this was just a leave of absence, and not a resignation.
Meanwhile, staff members of sidelined police chief Torsak drove to the PM’s Office building on Friday to bring him general items for his use at his new office on the fourth floor of the building.
Surachate’s new office is located on the third floor of the building. No name plates have been placed on the office doors of both police generals. Reporters were prevented from taking photos of their offices.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin issued orders transferring both Torsak and Surachate to inactive posts at the PM’s Office for 60 days, pending an investigation by a fact-finding committee set up by the prime minister.
It is rare for the two most senior police officers to be sidelined at the same time. The double transfer came after growing conflict in the Royal Thai Police amid exchanges of allegations that certain high-ranking officers condoned illegal gambling networks.
Surachate, 53, has seven years left before his mandatory retirement at 60, while Torsak is set to retire at the end of September this year.
