Police career
Thaksin was a member of the 10th class of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School,[17] and was then admitted to the Thai Police Cadet Academy. Graduating in 1973, he joined the Royal Thai Police. He received a master's degree in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University in the United States in 1975, and three years later was awarded a doctorate in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.[citation needed]
Returning to Thailand, he reached the position of Deputy Superintendent of the Policy and Planning Sub-division, General Staff Division, Metropolitan Police Bureau, before resigning his commission in 1987 as a Police Lieutenant Colonel and leaving the police. His former wife, Potjaman Damapong, is the sister of Police General Priewpan Damapong and now uses her mother's maiden name.[13]: 39
He is a former university lecturer at Royal Police Cadet Academy in 1975–1976.[18][19]
Thaksin's police lieutenant colonel rank was revoked in September 2015.[20][21]