Thai PM Picks Thaksin In-Law As Police Chief

[webfact]

Thai PM picks Thaksin in-law as police chief

BANGKOK, October 19, 2011 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra chose a relative of her fugitive ex-premier brother Thaksin as the country's new police chief on Wednesday, a senior force member said.

Chairing a meeting of the National Police Commission in Bangkok, Yingluck proposed Police General Priewpan Damapong, elder brother of Thaksin's ex-wife Pojaman, as head of the police force.

"The meeting unanimously agreed on Priewpan, who is currently the most senior deputy, as the new police chief," Police General Aek Aungsananont told AFP.

As head of the commission, Yingluck has control over nominations for the post, and Priewpan was the only candidate named.

Yingluck is accused by opponents of allowing Thaksin to be heavily involved in decisions by the government, which played on the former leader's continuing popularity to secure a landslide win in July elections.

Thaksin was ousted from power in 2006 and lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-10-19

[londonthai]

to be expected for the last few months. Apparently, he was the only candidate, so not much choice left.

[webfact]

Police board appoints Priewpan as new police chief

BANGKOK, Oct 19 - The Board of the Royal Thai Police on Wednesday unanimously agreed to appoint Pol Gen Priewpan Damapong, elder brother of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's former wife, Pojaman na Pombejra, as new police chief.

Police board spokesman Pol Maj-Gen Ake Angsananont said the Wednesday meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra resolved to appoint Gen Priewpan to lead the national police bureau as proposed by the premier.

The spokesman said the appointment will take effect after the royal endorsement.

Gen Ake added the meeting also agreed to open the new position of commander of the national police bureau, who will be a coordinator with the prime minister on the government's policies.

Regarding concerns over the current flooding, Gen Ake disclosed that the premier also instructed Gen Priewpan in the police board meeting to recruit all police officers, police cadets and nursing students to help flood-hit victims as much as possible, especially to join the operations to reinforce the temporary dykes in at-risk areas.

Gen Priewpan is a brother of Pojaman na Pombejra, ex-wife of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a Sept 2006 coup.

The appointment came after the transfer of former police chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree to become secretary-general of the National Security Council. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-10-19

[anon7867763]

here we go

[Crushdepth]

to be expected for the last few months. Apparently, he was the only candidate, so not much choice left.

I'm sure he got the job on merit. Give him a chance. We shouldn't assume he got the job because of his family connections.

[gl555]

Let the Shinawatras have the police. As long as they can't touch the Army...

[bangkokrick]

Just need one of Thaksins family in the military now and its game over.

[Maestro]

The AFP article in the OP refers to "head of the police force" and "police chief". Is this the same position as the "Director General of the Police Department" mentioned in section 4 of the English translation of the Immigration Act and/or in the preamble of the Order of the Royal Thai Police No. 777/2251 referred to as "Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police Bureau", ie the person who issues the police order "prescribing the criteria and conditions for consideration of an alien’s application for a temporary stay in the Kingdom of Thailand under Paragraph 3, Section 35 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (A.D. 1979)"?

[rogerdee123]

Just need one of Thaksins family in the military now and its game over.

If I'm not mistaken, an attempt to do that that was a big contributor to bringing on the last coup d'etat.

[howzat]

Fiddling while Rome burns.my factory at nava has closed with the loss of 500 jobs and the lies told by the government in giving false info has caused huge damage. What about the Japanese companies like Panasonic NEC Seiko etc. More important to think about her family than the country. In the land of the blind the one eyed women rules ok. She is pathetic.

[Maestro]

I may have found the answer. The article on the Thai-language version of MCOT online gives the position as ผู้บัญชาการตำรวจแห่งชาติ, which thai2english.com translates as Director-General of the National Police Bureau. Therefore, he is indeed the man to issue the rules for extensions of stay, or a competent official deputised by him.

[LuckyLew]

awful, but to be expected

We all know only Shinawatra;s are good enough and smart enough to be in positions of power

[transam]

::cheesy:

[EnSvenskTiger]

Ohhh! The haters will love this!

Tiger

[ES1]

If ANY of this is a surprise to you then you have not been paying attention. If you still believe she is just doing what's right for the country then you are not capable of understanding anyways.

[ES1]

Ohhh! The haters will love this!

Tiger

On the flip side, the lovers will hate this. So it all balances out.

[EyesWideOpen]

I realize that Thai politics are a bit strange, but there must be some sort of law against becoming the PM, then packing every post with a relative. This is beyond cronyism......... I have never seen this in a western country before, so this must be a special Thai thing....... Hey maybe she is tired of the job, and wants a coup.......

[Exsexyman]

Not wishing to be pedantic, but surely a more accurate headline would read, 'Thaksin picks In-Law as police chief.

[redsox44]

Where?

[Buchholz]

The meeting unanimously agreed on Priewpan, who is currently the most senior deputy

And just how did get to become the most senior deputy???

Priewpan's tears take nepotism to new levels

Priewpan was a low-key police officer until his brother-in-law Thaksin came to power in 2001.

Just before the Thaksin government declared a "war on drugs", the then prime minister handpicked his brother-in-law to head the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.

In the police corridors, that meant that Priewpan was being groomed for the position of national police chief, as part of Thaksin's alleged plan to consolidate power through domination of the police service.

And although Priewpan brought some sort of embarrassment to the government with his botched operation to arrest a northern drug kingpin, who subsequently won an acquittal, he received Thaksin's blessing to bypass all senior police commissioners to get to the position of assistant national police chief.

Amid the eruption of street protests against Thaksin's controversial leadership, Priewpan was again put on a fast-track promotion to become deputy national police chief, although it was, at that time, an unprecedented move to twice elevate him within a year. That prompted accusations that Thaksin was pushing to install his in-law as the police chief in an attempt to reverse his political predicament.

What Thaksin did to the military was not much different from what happened to the police. He hauled his cousin Chaiyasit Shinawatra over the heads of all prime candidates for the Army chief post and installed him in the most powerful position in complete disregard of all criticism.

The Nation / 2009-08-11

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/08/11/opinion/opinion_30109521.php

Yingluck has control over nominations for the post, and Priewpan was the only candidate named.

.

Edited October 19, 2011 by Maestro
Fixed quote tags.

[animatic]

As head of the commission, Yingluck has control over nominations for the post, and Priewpan was the only candidate named.

Says it all right there.

"Stacking the deck with cronies"

pales in comparison to what this crew is doing.

And certainly making the inevitable moves on the army will cause the Shinawatra house of cards to fall. Sadly, there seems to be no visible restraint in play at all.

[abhaya]

This Issan farmer has about 500 hens, but no rooster, and he wants chicks. So, he goes down the road to the next farmer and asks if he has a rooster that he would sell. The other farmer says, "Yep, I've got this great rooster, named Shin. He'll service every chicken you got, no problem."

Well, Shin the rooster costs 3,000Baht, a lot of money, but the farmer decides he'd be worth it. So, he buys Shin. The farmer takes Shin home and sets him down in the barnyard, but first he gave the rooster a pep talk. "I want you to pace yourself now. You've got a lot of chickens to service here, and you cost me a lot of money. Consequently, I'll need you to do a good job.! So, take your time and have some fun," the farmer said, with a chuckle.!

Shin seems to understand, so the farmer points toward the hen house and Shin takes off like a shot. WHAM! Shin nails every hen in the hen house - three or four times, and the farmer is really shocked.

After that, the farmer hears a commotion in the duck pen and, sure enough, Shin is in there. Later, the farmer sees Shin after a flock of geese down by the lake. Once again - WHAM! He gets all the geese. By sunset he sees Shin out in the fields chasing quail and pheasants.

The farmer is distraught and worried that his expensive rooster won't even last 24 hours. Sure enough, the farmer goes to bed and wakes up the next morning to find Shin on his back out in the middle of the yard, mouth open, tongue hanging out and both feet sticking straight up in the air. Buzzards are circling overhead.

The farmer, saddened by the loss of such a colorful and expensive animal, shakes his head and says, "Oh, Shin, I told you to pace yourself. I tried to get you to slow down, now look what you've done to yourself."

Shin opens one eye, nods toward the buzzards circling in the sky and says, "Shhhh .. they're getting closer."

Old joke, but true. Just shows how some folks no matter how much they have but it's not enough.

[Maestro]

And just how did get to become the most senior deputy???

...

Thank you for digging that one up. I had been wondering about it.

[animatic]

And just how did get to become the most senior deputy???

...

Thank you for digging that one up. I had been wondering about it.

Ramrodded right to the position BIL wanted him in.

[Maestro]

A post using a derogatory name for the Prime Minister and the two replies to it have been deleted.

[siampolee]

Nepotism rules . I can't cope with the flooding so I'll put my family members in positions of power and the grand plan goes on,

Outlaw put in law ,in law, so outlaw becomes in law !!

Floods!! what floods?

Edited October 19, 2011 by siampolee

[rubl]

All those negative flows here, as if the water flow is not enough.

Let me tell all of you that I am sure PM Yingluck used the same criteria in selection of the new Police Chief as she did in selection of her cabinet: potential and capabilities.

http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255407050011

The ministers Plodprasop and Chumpol immediately come to mind

Edited October 19, 2011 by rubl

[transam]

All those negative flows here, as if the water flow is not enough.

Let me tell all of you that I am sure PM Yingluck used the same criteria in selection of the new Police Chief as she did in selection of her cabinet: potential and capabilities.

http://thainews.prd....id=255407050011

The ministers Plodprasop and Chumpol immediately come to mind

[KRS1]

Shin opens one eye, nods toward the buzzards circling in the sky and says, "Shhhh .. they're getting closer."

Old joke, but true. Just shows how some folks no matter how much they have but it's not enough.

haha great !

[OzMick]

All those negative flows here, as if the water flow is not enough.

Let me tell all of you that I am sure PM Yingluck used the same criteria in selection of the new Police Chief as she did in selection of her cabinet: potential and capabilities.

http://thainews.prd....id=255407050011

The ministers Plodprasop and Chumpol immediately come to mind

Please, don't forget (Renfield) Surapong !