The Royal Thai Police (RTP) have made the latest change to the senior police reshuffle, moving Surachet Hakpan, chief of the Patrol and Special Operation Division, to deputy chief of the newly upgraded Tourist Police Bureau (TPB), according to a police source.
The source said the change, among others, was approved at a high-level police meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who is responsible for national security, yesterday.
Pol Maj Gen Surachet was recently promoted to deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, making this his second reappointment. The TPB was also upgraded from a division.
Changes can technically still be made to the reshuffle list before it is presented for royal endorsement.
The source said Pol Maj Gen Surachet's transfer came as a surprise to senior police officers who believed he would be first in line for the coveted role of TPB commissioner further down the road given his role as a close aide to Gen Prawit.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the TPB will continue to function as a division as it transitions into a fully fledged bureau.
The meeting yesterday also appointed Pol Lt Gen Sakhon Thongmunee, previously chief of the Provincial Police Region 9 (PPR9), as the TPB's first commissioner.
Under the shake-up, the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre has been merged with the PPR9, with jurisdiction over provinces in the lower South. Pol Lt Gen Sakhon is replaced as PPR9 chief by Pol Lt Gen Ronnasilp Phusara.
Emerging from the meeting, Pol Gen Chakthip said the appointees will assume their new posts in the new fiscal year which starts next month. More tourist police are needed to combat a spike in crimes against tourists, police said, citing cases of fraudulent and shady firms that prey on tourists. Tourism is one of the nation's top foreign-exchange earners.
"That gives us even more reason to protect tourists to ensure they aren't taken advantage of," Pol Gen Chakthip said.
