Prayut ends long reluctance to strip Thaksin of police rank

“I have just signed acknowledgement of the police force’s proposal.”
The police were expected next to move to retract Thaksin’s royal decorations, he said.
National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang had earlier this week proposed to the Cabinet the revocation of Thaksin’s police rank, after a fact-finding committee concluded that, according to police-force regulations, the ex-PM’s title should be annulled because he had been sentenced to prison.
Prayut said many hundreds of police and military officers had lost their titles for similar reasons. “But their cases went unreported in the media. That was because they were not so famous.
“You should not care much about the names. Their rank will be revoked if they are guilty. As many as 600 to 700 people already got their ranks revoked. But the media didn’t care because they were not big names,” he said.
If Thaksin opposes the move, it will not be a concern, the general said.
“I’m not fighting with anyone. If he enters the country, he’ll be arrested. And if he encourages wrongdoing, he’ll be arrested. Those who do wrongdoing in the country will also be arrested. But I ask them to refrain from doing so,” Prayut said.
Thaksin has been living outside the country in self-imposed exile after the Supreme Court in 2008 sentenced him to two years in jail for abusing his power while prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said Thaksin’s title could be withdrawn even though he had long left the police force, as there were precedents.
“Police have reported that in some cases the persons involved had left the police force for five to 10 years. But they got their police ranks revoked for committing wrongdoing. Even someone with an honorary police title was also stripped of it,” he said.
On Wednesday, Somyot said he had signed the order and forwarded it to the Cabinet Secretariat on Monday for endorsement, on recommendation from a police fact-finding committee.
The panel also cited Thaksin’s recent interview with foreign media regarding the military coup last year, claiming it had adversely affected the royal institution.
Somyot insisted that he was simply doing his duty and following the law.
“I hope that people and society will understand,” he said.
Some previous administrations had tried to enforce police regulations covering police titles on Thaksin, but those attempts did not succeed, as certain elements in the force refused to cooperate.
Even under this government, when the ball was in the police’s court, the process of relieving Thaksin of his officer title dragged on for several months before the police chief’s signing of his order on Monday.