Thailand Politics
Thai Military Pushes Royal Thai Police in Stripping of Thaksin of his Police Rank
General Phaibul Khumchaya
BANGKOK – Thailand’s Justice Minister General Phaibul Khumchaya said Saturday that he would officially ask the legal affairs officials to question the Royal Thai Police over the delay in considering stripping former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of his police rank.
General Phaibul Khumchaya said “There is only one answer to the issue, whether it is Yes or No and nothing else to say, so that we can answer the people about it.”
He said he had to follow up the matter closely after Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha designated the Justice Ministry to follow up the progress.
The Junta want police to strip Thaksin’s right to call himself a lieutenant colonel, leaving him officially on the run without rank or documents
He said that the Justice Minister did not interfere in the matter from the beginning because the prime minister has earlier designated the Royal Thai Police to handle the case.
Gen Phaibul said he wanted a police representative to report its progress to see if there was any problem in the delay.
He said he would like the stripping of police rank to be just a normal individual matter as the very issue that must answer the public is that the law is applied equally with all persons and with same standard, and no selective practice.
He also said that after hearing explanation from the legal affairs officials and the police representative, the ministry will have a clearer answer to the issue.
He said the issue raised question from the public, stressing that whether it could or could not do needed to have one answer, strip or not strip.
Gen Phaibul also insisted that any action taken would not take into consideration whether the person was a former prime minister or not.
If this was taken into account, then it could hardly answer the people’s suspicion, he said.
