Police work is unlikely to improve overnight despite Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva successfully pushing through the nomination of General Wichien Potephosree as the next national police chief.
The crucial issue related to Wichien's nomination is not police performance but about freeing the force from politics.
Because of political wrangling, General Patheep Tanprasert has been forced to work as acting national police chief without a royal command confirming his appointment. He is due to retire next month.
It took Abhisit about a year to sort out the politicisation of the police service.
As a graduate of the Police Academy, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra shared a kindred spirit with the police. A large number of officers acted as his henchmen. After he was ousted from power in 2006, police were caught in a vortex of political polarisation.
Cases involving the red shirts, the yellow shirts and other colours in the political spectrum were often exploited to advance the career of case officers - at the expense of legal rights and evidence.
For the past two years, a large number of senior officers have been jockeying for promotion based on their partisan leaning rather than job performance.
If the Royal Thai Police are to regain credibility and public trust as a reliable law-enforce-ment agency, it is imperative that the service becomes a meritocracy that acts without fear or favour. Officers must be discouraged from riding on the coattails of politicians.
Under the prevailing power structure, the Democrat Party and the Bhum Jai Thai Party are overseers wielding influence over police appointments.
The two coalition allies are obligated to put the force back on a more professional course. Otherwise they are no better than their rival ex-PM Thaksin, who was widely accused of politicising the work of the police.
Next month will see the retirement of senior officers seen as pro-Thaksin and pro-reds. The public will not be served if their posts are filled with pro-Democrat or pro-Bhum Jai Thai officers.
Three top officers, seen as pro-Thaksin men - General Chumpol Manmai, General Wonggot Maneerin and General Jongrak Juthanont - will retire from the position of deputy national police chief.
General Wichien and the Police Service Commission will have a rare opportunity to wean the top echelon of partisanship.
Although Wichien is known for his professional integrity and honesty, his leadership is expected to face an uphill battle. Among his priorities are to end the politicisation of the force and to root out corruption. But cleansing the police service is a promise easier said than done.
Wichien's path to the police top job is similar to circumstances when former general Pow Sarasin got the post in 1987. Both Pow and Wichien were chosen to lead at critical junctures to revamp the force.
Pow was a forensic police officer before moving on to head the agency in charge of drug suppression. Under the Prem Tinsulanonda government, he was moved back to the force and groomed for the top job.
Even though the police were relatively clean under his leadership, he was forced to rely on several officers to fight crime, since he had been out of the service for some years. Corruption persisted among these officers, although on a lesser scale than before.
Wichien spent the major part of his career as a royal guard before being elevated to the rank of general in 2002. He returned to the police service after the 2006 coup. Although he is widely respected in security circles, he claims no power base among police ranks.
Given that crime-fighting is a key indicator in performance evaluation, it remains to be seen whether Wichien will repeat the path taken by Pow.