Kannayao police station's superintendent and two other officers in Nakhon Si Thammarat have been transferred after they were seen being "too friendly" with embattled rock star Sek Loso in photos shared online.
The singer, whose real name is Seksan Sookpimay, faces charges of drug use, illegal possession of firearms and resisting arrest, after he shot bullets into the air with a handgun at Wat Khao Khun Phanom in Phrommakhiri district of Nakhon Si Thammarat last Friday.
Kannayao police chief Sing Singhadej is seen in a photo along with Sek and two other people in an investigation room at his station.
The picture showed them holding their thumbs up at a small table full of food.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Charnthep Sesavej yesterday said he had instructed Metropolitan Police Division 2 chief Ekkachai Boonwisut to explain the circumstances after he saw the picture on Thursday evening.
Pol Maj Gen Ekkachai replied he had set up a panel to probe the case and transferred Pol Col Sing to the division's operation centre, Pol Lt Gen Charnthep said.
The bureau chief said the photo went against the national police chief's guidelines on how officers could be photographed with suspects.
He said he would instruct his subordinates to "behave properly" to ward off any public perception that police gave favourable treatment to some suspects.
Pol Lt Gen Charnthep said it was a case of disciplinary misconduct in which punishment could range from a warning to dismissal. He said Sek is no longer qualified to possess firearms and investigators will be told to seek the withdrawal of the possession certificate.
The order transferring Pol Col Sing was signed yesterday by Pol Maj Gen Ekkachai, who also ordered his deputy, Pol Col Sarawut Jindakam, to serve as an acting superintendent at Kannayao police station.
Kannayao police chief Pol Col Sing posted a message on the police station's Facebook page that the photo was taken on Monday. It said the two men along with Pol Col Sing and Sek are Pol Maj Gen Prasopchok Prommoon, who took the rocker for drug rehabilitation treatment in 2011, and Kritikhun Thaksinnukulwong, an executive of Grammy Entertainment.
Well respected by Sek, the two men talked to the singer to try to make him become a better person and he promised to do so, the post said.
Another controversial photo which went online shows Pol Col Rangsan Sukkua, chief investigator at Nakhon Si Thammarat police office, and Pol Lt Col Theerachai Pumpichai, crime suppression chief at Muang police station, attend a party hosted by Sek in the southern province.
Pol Maj Gen Wanchai Ekpornpit, police chief of Nakhon Si Thammarat, on Thursday set up a panel to probe the matter. He yesterday signed an order transferring the two officers to Nakhon Si Thammarat police office's operation centre.
Pol Col Rangsan said yesterday he did not personally know Sek, adding he and his subordinates only went to have a meal at the restaurant, whose owner invited him to talk to Sek at the singer's table.
Sek spoke about his plan to hold a concert to seek funding for a local police station, he said.
