Judging from his words, Somyot Pumpunmuang may very well be the most generous police officer this country has ever seen.
On Thursday, about 10 soldiers from the 2nd Calvary Division's King's Guard stormed into a conference room at the Special Branch while nine Israelis were giving a presentation on their eavesdropping and location-tracking devices to police officers.
The troops boldly bowled up to the police office in three intimidating Humvees, put an end to the event and swept the nine Israelis out the door, taking them to their military compound before releasing them later. The Special Branch office, it should be noted, is just minutes' walk from where the national police chief works in the same premises at police headquarters in Pathumwan.
It was a slap in the face for all police officers. Soldiers went to their HQ compound, disrupted a meeting of officers and took the presenters away to the shock of those in attendance. Instead of a strong reaction of indignation from the police numero uno, Pol Gen Somyot instead told a press conference a day later that the staff judge-advocate, Col Burin Thongpraphai, had informed him beforehand about the soldiers barging in on the meeting at the Special Branch.
In the strict hierarchy of the army and police force, a colonel is never going to give a top police general a phone call to say what he will do.
He should receive an order from somebody above him to contact Pol Gen Somyot.Nobody knows the real reason behind the shock army operation. They don't now and probably won't in the future.
The explanation from the police chief and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is the same. It's just a "misunderstanding".
And in now typical trademark fashion when dealing with the press, the premier said they should stop right there instead of trying to dig up more dirt on this episode because it will cause a rift between the army and the police. "It's not about mistrust," Gen Prayut said on Friday. "They talked this thing over and have reached an understanding. Next time they [senior police and army top brass] should communicate better." Amid all the denials from the prime minister and police commander of conflicts between the army and police, there is only one theory left: that is a report, quoting no sources, in Thai Post newspaper that the army is suspicious that the Special Branch - the police agency with "Excellence in Intelligence'' as one of its mottoes - is trying to buy new devices to shadow soldiers.
That may or may be not true. One certain thing is that the soldiers have put the police in an awkward position as they clamp down on gambling dens and other shady practices.
In many clean-up operations, police responsible for the targeted area are not alerted about the impending swoop.
There is a fear that crackdown plans will be leaked, and by the time troops reach the target, there might be nothing left to seize and nobody to arrest. One thing for sure is that what happened at the Special Branch that night made Gen Prayut quite moody the day after.
It underlined also one more thing: that this country is in a military lockdown. The armed forces call the shots with the police force being relegated to a supplementary role since the general seized power last year when he was the all-powerful army commander. Yet police officers should not complain.
The country used to be a police-led state when it was ruled by the Thai Rak Thai Party and its subsequent manifestations.
These parties used the services of the police and appointed active or retired high-ranking police officers close to the party to key state agencies, including the Government Lottery Office. Not to mention key positions at the national police office. But the tide has turned. Nobody knows for how much longer the situation will continue, due the current unpredictability of the draft charter.
The present is real, and Pol Gen Somyot and other police officers have accepted this reality.
Saritdet Marukatat is digital media news editor, Bangkok Post.