The Royal Thai Police Commission yesterday passed, by a vote of 10 to 1, a resolution appointing Deputy Police Commissioner-General Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol as the 14th Commissioner-General, succeeding Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas.

Torsak, who ranked fourth by seniority among the Deputy Police Commissioners-General, is the younger sibling of the Lord Chamberlain, Air Chief Marshal Satitpong Sukvimol, who also heads the Crown Property Bureau, the Siam Cement group and a number of large royally-connected corporations and is on the board of many more including the Siam Commercial Bank. ACM Satitpong is generally regarded as the most powerful official in the Palace.

The selection meeting, which took place at the National Police Headquarters, was chaired by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin.

 

The candidates competing for the Royal Thai Police's top post, ranked by seniority, were Pol Gen Roy Inkapairoj, Pol Gen Surachate ‘Big Joke’ Hakparn, Pol Gen Kittirat Phanphet and then Pol Gen Torsak.

In recent days, Pol Gen Surachate, once a strong contender, has faced controversy after members of his close team were accused of involvement in a ring of online gambling sites. Arrest warrants were issued for some of them.  The accusation led to a raid on Pol Gen Surachate's residence two days ago by Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau police backed up by a SWAT team.
 

Moreover, the outgoing chief Pol Gen Damrongsak yesterday ordered the transfer of eight members of Pol Gen Surachate’s police team to Police Headquarters, effectively removing them from their previous duties.
 

Meanwhile, moments before the media reported this decision by the Police Commission, some mass media outlets reported that it had been decided to postpone the appointment of the new Commissioner-General to October and appoint Pol Lt Gen Roy as Acting Commissioner-General.