Two high-ranking police officers present at Kamnan Nok's dinner party when a highway policeman was slain and another wounded by a gunman in Nakhon Pathom last Wednesday have been transferred to inactive posts.
Under an order signed by Pol Lt Gen Thanayut Wuthicharasdamrong, the Provincial Police Region 7 commissioner, Pol Maj Gen Jakkrit Kruasunthornwanich, the Nakhon Pathom provincial police chief, and Pol Col Phuphon Thapcharoen, the Muang station chief, were transferred to work at Provincial Police Region 7 headquarters, effective on Monday, Sept 11.
The transfer order cited events on the night of Sept 6, when gunman Thananchai Manmak killed Pol Maj Siwakorn Saibua, 32, of Highway Police sub-division 2, and wounded Pol Lt Col Wasin Panpee, deputy commander of Highway Police sub-division 2. The two men were among the many police officers attending a party hosted by Praween Chankhlai, the chief of tambon Takong in Muang district known locally as Kamnan Nok.
Mr Praween, 35, has been arrested on suspicion of having ordered the murder, allegedly because his wife's nephew, a police highway patrolman, was refused a promotion requested by the kamnan, a local influential figure. The gunman was later killed in a shootout with police in Kanchanaburi province.
The Royal Thai Police Office ordered the investigation of all police officers who attended the party.
Court arrest warrants were subsequently approved for the arrest of six of the police officers on criminal charges in connection with the shooting, and they were taken into custody, sacked from the force and charged with aiding and abetting offences.
Pictures and reports carried by news outlets showed the large number of police in attendance at the dinner party. This could lead the public to believe they were close associates of Mr Praween and could affect the image of Provincial Police Region 7 and the Royal Thai Police as a whole, the order said.
The six arrested officers were held on charges of helping Mr Praween avoid arrest and concealing and destroying evidence of an offence. They were due in the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases of Region 7 in Samut Songkhram province on Monday.
Investigators were to seek court permission to detain them for another 12 days to allow further investigation.
Family, friends and associates of murdered Pol Maj Siwakorn gathered at Sala 11 of Wat Phra Sri Mahathat in Bang Khen district of Bangkok on Monday for his royally-sponsored cremation.
Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, a deputy national police chief, chaired the ceremony and the rites were performed by the Supreme Patriarch.
