The appointments were approved by a royal command on Friday and were announced on TVs Saturday.

Nat Intharaparn was appointed deputy tourism and transport minister.

Pol Lt Gen Thirawut Butrsrphume was appointed deputy interior minister and Wallop Thainua was appointed deputy public health minister.

The three will be sworn in on May 8.

Thirawut used to be commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 7 and he used to make a lot of arrests on alleged vote buying in the 2001 general election, which saw Thai Rak Thai become the government for the first time.

Thirawut is believed to be in charge of supervising election holding.

Nat used to be governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand and used to be in charge of organising the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok.

Wallop was a former permanent secretary for Public Health and used to have conflicts with then public health minister Sudarat Keyuraphan.

Kuthep Saikrajang, a leading Thai Rak Thai member, said Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont appointed Wallop to his Cabinet to go after and harass the Thai Rak Thai.

He said he believed the new Cabinet members would not improve the performance of the government.

The Nation