Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is set to exercise his special Section 44 powers under the interim charter to tackle the scourge of "position buying" in the police force.
Gen Prayut admitted there have been many allegations of position buying in the force involving huge amounts of money and the government is preparing to tackle it by restructuring the Royal Thai Police reshuffle procedure.
In principle, supervisors at all levels, from the bottom at the provincial police commander rank to those holding middle and top posts, should have a say in appointments in their areas and the national police chief would make the final decision, said the prime minister.
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Under the current process, appointments of almost all commissioned officers are considered by the Police Commission chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, but this is not working, said Gen Prayut, also the head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), after the joint meeting of the NCPO and the cabinet.
"Currently, Gen Prawit has to consider more than 300 appointments and this is too tiring. There should be a screening process for each level first," he said.
"We have talked about how to restore the confidence of the public in the police, particularly in appointments and transfers where there are always accusations of a lack of transparency and position buying," said Gen Prayut.
Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Gen Prayut has asked Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who oversees legal affairs, to draft an order under Section 44 of the interim charter to restructure the police reshuffle process.
Under the new process, supervisors at each level will be allowed to appoint and transfer officers under their jurisdictions, the same as in the military but the national police chief will have the final say, he said.
The new system aims to prevent any intervention in the reshuffle process by the Police Commission.
Lt Gen Sansern admitted the new system might not completely prevent corruption and malpractice because a major factor is still human behaviour, but it would be a major move to eradicate ill-intended activities in the system.
Taksada Sangkhachan, an assistant government spokeswoman, said the cabinet meeting Tuesday also raised concerns over corruption in other state agencies and ministries. The cabinet highlighted to officials that drafting and using the budget of each state agency must be transparent and accountable.
"The prime minister stressed that any corrupt official must be prosecuted," she said.
National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said he did not yet know the details of the Section 44 order.