The cabinet on Tuesday approved the Justice Ministry's proposal to appoint Pol Lt Col Korawat Panprapakorn, the ministry's inspector-general, the new director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said.
The position had been vacant since Pol Col Paisit Wongmuang submitted his resignation in February, citing health reasons.
Pol Lt Col Korawat was born on March 9, 1961. After graduating from the Police Academy in 1992, he became an investigator at Pak Tho police station in Ratchaburi. In 2002, he was deputy commander of the Crime Suppresson Sub-division 4.
When the DSI was established in 2004, he was transferred to the Justice Ministry, holding the post of a special cases investigator of the DSI's Office of Technology and Information Cases. He became chief of special operations in 2012 and deputy director-general of the DSI on Oct 15, 2017. He was appointed an inspector-general of the Justice Ministry, effective from Oct 15 last year.
At the DSI, Pol Lt Col Korawat gained his reputation for his handling of many important cases. They included the murder of Prayoon Sithichoke in Chon Buri in which Somchai Khunplome or Kamnam Poh was the defendant; the Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC) embezzlement; and the disappearance of Polaji Rakchongcharoen, or Billy, an ethnic Karen leader at Ban Pong Luk-Bang Kroy in Phetchaburi.