For me Uthai Thani's immigration vision and core values first become apparent when I was charged 500bt for a visa transfer to a new passport.
I had not seen the charge listed for this service and the money was popped into a shirt pocket without receipt.
Suspecting corruption in hindsight, I asked for a receipt when I was charged the same amount to confirm my address for a driving licence extension. The policeman then disappeared and after a call to my wife I was told "for me, free".
For visa extensions the corruption became almost a matter of pride, the 100bt change being kept as a "tip" for training.
I note that for my recent extension neither of the two founding policemen were present and that one of those trainees processed the application without incident and gave the correct change.
So I am surprised UT would be chosen as a precedent for such a promotion as I never encountered such corruption at CW.