Meanwhile, 100,000 handbooks would be published and distributed to the public next week informing them about the benefits of the police reform, said Kittipong, who is also the Police Development Commission secretary.

In a meeting with the commission on January 27, executives of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Criminal Justice Reform Unit, offered to send their officials to participate and make suggestions for the Thai police revamp, as the UN had experience in revamping the police force in many other countries, he said.

The UN offer was in line with the commission's idea to have the new police structure created through people's participation, to decentralise power to locals, and to enable the police to work closely with  and become a "rock" - for the public, he said.

In early March, four experts from the UN will attend meetings in Thailand to assist in drawing up the reform roadmap - including an action plan, the responsible parties, budgets, and the assignment of a committee to proceed with the reform within three years, according to Kittipong.

Insisting the police reform was not politicallydriven, Kittipong cited a recent survey that said people wanted good police officers working with "honesty and transparency".

Kittipong said the new structure would allow nationwide police officers to have "equal dignity" as Justice Ministry officials, and would no longer have to bow to politicians or influential figures.

Police reshuffles would be fair, leaving no room for benefitdriven methods such as position buying, he said.

The reform's transfer of some police work to communities and other agencies would also enable the government to take better care of police officers regarding salary raises and welfare.

Regarding the Royal Police Cadet Academy, Kittipong said the commission had discussed with the academy commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen, and a decision had been reached not to close it down.

The academy administration would become independent of the Royal Thai Police, allowing it to hire experts to train cadets to be more efficient, he said.

It should function as a "Special Delivery Unit" with the curriculum adjusted to become the national centre for police training, without having to change its name, he added.

The Nation