‘Big Joke’ drops complaint against PM
published : 24 Apr 2024 at 08:46
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Post Reporters
Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn on Tuesday withdrew his complaint against Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for suspending him, according to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)
The NACC said Pol Gen Surachate did not go into details about the reasons for dropping the complaint.
Surachate, 53, also known as “Big Joke”, is suspected of involvement in a money-laundering case. On Monday, he filed a complaint with the NACC, claiming the PM's decision to suspend him had affected his chances of becoming the next national police chief.
Earlier, Pichit Chuenban, an adviser to the prime minister, had defended Mr Srettha after Surachate accused the PM of malfeasance for ordering his suspension.
Mr Pichit said the prime minister is a busy person and does not have time to treat anyone with malicious intent.
In a related development, lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd held a press conference to discuss the cases of Surachate and police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol. Both are accused of being involved in a money-laundering case linked to online gambling by Mr Sittra last month.
He said the police seemed incompetent when it came to tracking the financial transactions involving the two officers.
Surachate was seen as a contender for the chief’s post last year but it went instead to Torsak, whose brother is the head of the Crown Property Bureau. The two men have been feuding ever since. Last month Mr Srettha shifted the pair to inactive posts in the PM’s office.
A committee set up by the prime minister to look into the Surachate-Torsak affair said recently that it had found there were grounds to the allegation that Surachate was involved in money laundering.
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Vocabulary
- allegation: an accusation; a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา
- chief: a person with a high rank or the highest rank in a company or an organisation - หัวหน้า, ผู้นำ
- complaint: when someone says that something is wrong or not satisfactory - การบ่น, ข้อที่ไม่พอใจ
- contender: someone who competes with other people for a prize or job - คู่ต่อสู้, คู่แข่ง
- drop (verb): to stop doing something; to end an activity or programme - เลิก, ยกเลิก, หยุด
- feuding (adj): involved in an angry and bitter disagreement between two people or groups of people that continue over a long period of time - อาฆาต, แตกร้าว
- gambling: the activity of betting money, for example in a game or on a horse race - การพนัน
- grounds: reasons for what you say or do - บนมูลเหตุว่า บนพื้นฐานว่า
- inactive post: a job or position with no real responsibilities or duties -
- incompetent (adj): not having the skill or ability to do your job or a task as it should be done - ไร้ความสามารถ
- malfeasance: illegal actions, especially by a person in authority - การใช้อำนาจไปในทางที่ผิด
- malicious: having or showing hatred and a desire to harm somebody or hurt their feelings - มุ่งร้าย, ปองร้าย, ประสงค์ร้าย
- money-laundering (adj): hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses - การฟอกเงิน
- suspended: officially stopped from doing a job - ถอดออกจากตำแหน่ง
- transactions (noun): the action or process of buying or selling things - การค้า, การติดต่อทางธุรกิจ