Permanent Secretary for Justice Charun Pakdeethanaklu said that Justice Minister Charnchai Likhitjittha had signed the transfer order for Sombat to report by Monday to assist work at the ministry, while assigning Deputy Permanent Secretary for Justice Kraisorn Baramee-Auychai to be acting DSI chief.

Charun said the ministry had to transfer Sombat without waiting for the police commission's order because the process would have taken too long.

As the DSI has been under pressure to speed up its investigations into many key cases, especially the case of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, the transfer was inevitable, he added. He said the move would speed up the investigation and would help save the DSI from being "the defendant in the eye of the public".

A source at the ministry said Kraisorn would be in the DSI top post for about 15 days, pending the police commission's approval to have Appeal Court Judge Sunai Manomaiudom - reportedly an honest person who stands up for what he believes - to become the DSI chief.

Sombat has been under fire during his leadership of the DSI, especially for the slow-paced investigation into the disappearance of Somchai two years ago, who was defending a group of Muslims charged with plotting attacks in the insurgency-plagued south.

Somchai went missing after publicly accusing police of torturing his clients while they were in custody.