New national police chief set to be named
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has revealed that the next national police chief should be named next week, adding that there is nothing to be worried about as he will consider the matter himself.
The current police chief, Somyot Pumpanmuang, said the candidate name list had not yet been included on the agenda of the next police board meeting. However the meeting, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed because the meeting documents had not been finished in time as stipulated under the law and will now take place on Friday.
“Don’t worry,” Prayut told reporters. “The committee must recruit and create decent people [to be police chief]. If the public thought he was not decent, then time will tell.
“It is not necessary that we eliminate them all or there would not be anyone left. Don’t worry about it. I’m the one making the decision.”
Asked if he had promised anything to Somyot, the premier said he could not promise anyone anything to do with rank or position.
However he said the police chief should be “’the people’s police” – moral and qualified in every way including seniority. The next chief must also be fair and follow the government’s policies or he would replace him.
Somyot affirmed that every candidate would be reviewed equally.
“The committee will follow the law. The seniority is not necessarily taken into consideration. I’ve consulted with experts about this, with the names of the candidates hidden, to guide me on how I will make the decision,” he said.
Somyot added that so far he had not discussed the matter with Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.
