Gen Pallop Pinmanee, former advisor to ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has cried foul after his dismissal as a member of the Pheu Thai Party, claiming he was given no notice.
The former deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) said on Monday that he only found out he had been given the boot by a close aide while planning to attend the party assembly in Khon Kaen province in late October.
Gen Pallop said he was baffled that he had been singled out for such harsh treatment.
"I called Dr Cholnan [Srikaew, the party leader] to ask about the matter.
"He was hesitant at first. But after I was persistent with him, he finally told me that Thaksin ordered my removal," Gen Pallop said, apparently referring to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's older brother, who retains close ties with Pheu Thai.
"When I asked what I had done wrong to deserve such treatment, he [Dr Cholnan] didn't answer," he added.
Admitting he felt extreme let down by the purge, Gen Pallop said he would have understood the party if he had been one of several older members to make way for the new faces ahead of the next general election.
As it was, however, he felt singled out despite his record of political involvement which pre-dated even the formation of the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin.
After Thai Rak Thai was dissolved over electoral fraud, it eventually morphed into the People Power Party, which was also disbanded before eventually becoming the Pheu Thai.
He was also named among the Pheu Thai's list candidates in the 2019 general election, but the party failed to secure any list MP seats according to constitutional rules.