Prayut to proceed with stripping Thaksin of rank

Prayut to proceed with stripping Thaksin of rank

"I'll sign the document," says Gen Prayut on Tuesday. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will proceed to strip Thaksin Shinawatra of his police rank.

He said on Tuesday he had already received the proposal to strip the 66-year-old fugitive former prime minister of his lieutenant colonel rank.

"I'll sign it myself. There's no need to bring the issue to the cabinet. It will then be sent to His Majesty the King for approval," Gen Prayut said.

Earlier, the Royal Thai Police appeared reluctant to start the ball rolling. At issue was that the top brass dared not proceed for fear of breaking a rule since rank stripping is for a policeman who has committed a serious crime while in office.

The Justice Ministry and the Council of State assured the police later they could refer to other regulations to achieve the same end.

Thaksin resigned from the police in 1987, when he was 38 years old. He entered politics in 1994.

In 2008, he was sentenced by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for politicians to two years in jail for having a conflict of interests — a crime under the anti-corruption law — when he allowed his wife to join one of the central bank's land auctions. He fled Thailand and has been living in exile since.

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