National police chief General Wichean Potphosree on Wednesday explained to the top Saudi diplomat about the police service procedures related to the promotion of his assistant Lt General Somkid Boonthanom.
The Saudi diplomat Nabil Hussein Ashri paid a courtesy call on Wichean to congratulate him on his appointment as the police commissioner general.
At the meeting, Wichean outlined the justification on Somkid's promotion despite his legal wrangling related to the disappearance of Saudi businessman Mohammad Al-Ruwaili in 1990.
The Police Commission decided to promote Somkid of Provincial Police Region 5 to the position of assistant national police chief in accordance with the prescribed procedures because Somkid had cleared his name in every criminal and disciplinary proceddings, he said.
Under the amnesty law, Somkid's records related to the missing businessman were expunged twice, therefore he was entitled to an assignment review with a clean slate, he said.
Although the debate on Somkid's promotion took place under the leadership of acting national police chief General Patheep Tanprasert, all police commissioners, himself included, voted to endorse the promotion, he said.
Regardless of a recent push by the Department of Special Investigation to prosecute Somkid, this did not trigger the reopen of the disciplinary proceedings against him, hence the police service had no justification to suspend his job nor to stall his promotion, he said.
He also told the Saudi diplomat that if he could offer any consolation, Somkid's promotion actually resulted in a lesser mandate since a commissioner in charge of a police region is seen as more powerful than an assistant national police chief.