Paiboon ‘proposed transfer of Narcotics Control Board chief’

The transfer proposal was made on the grounds that Narong did not achieve the goals set by the official policy on putting drug abusers into the rehabilitation programme, the source said. 

Paiboon had hoped the ONCB would push for changes at the village level but community search operations still focused on arresting retail drug dealers and leaving the big fish unaffected, while the number of abusers undergoing rehabilitation was falling. 

The source said the order issued by the National Council of Peace and Order chief and Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha under the authority granted under Article 44 of the charter transferred Narong as an inspector-general at the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office. The source said such order was to reduce legal steps for the appointment. 

Narong was due to retire in September, while the promotion of Narong’s deputy Sirinya Sitthichai, who held a C-9 rank, to the C-10 level to hold the top post would take months according to civil service procedure.

The source said the transfer of Office of Justice Affairs (OJA) chief Pasit Asawawattanaporn to a legal adviser at the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Justice was because of his excessive |workload from his various positions including Thai Arbitration Institute director-general. |Hence he couldn’t achieve the |ministry’s objective to push the OJA to be a law-drafting hub, the source said, adding Paiboon also proposed that Justice Ministry adviser Wanlop Nakbua succeed Pasit.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam commented that Narong’s transfer order didn’t stem from any wrongdoing or corruption complaints. Also, because Narong would be retiring soon, he would still be entitled to his salary and other benefits. 

Admitting that the urgent transfer order might be seen by some people as unusual, he affirmed that it was only to resolve certain issues that were ongoing, although he did not elaborate.