A police disciplinary committee on Friday resolved unanimously to fire Pol Gen Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, a former deputy police chief, over his alleged involvement in an online gambling network. He will not receive any pension.
The decision brings the long and colourful career of the high-profile lawman closer to an end. He has been sidelined since August last year when a royal command was issued to remove him from the force, on the recommendation of the Police Commission.
Pol Gen Surachate appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled in December that the removal was legally just. All that remained to be decided was the punishment the force would impose.
The firing and loss of pension now awaits the final endorsement of the national police chief, Pol Gen Kittharat Punpetch.
Local media reports quoted Pol Gen Surachate as saying he was unaware of the latest decision. He said he wanted to review the committee’s report before deciding whether to appeal further.
The committee that met on Friday was chaired by deputy national police chief Pol Gen Kraibun Thuadsong, according to a police source. All of the other deputy chiefs were present. Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneela, an inspector-general, was absent.
Pol Gen Surachate, a high-profile figure with a flair for self-promotion, has attracted unwanted publicity over the past year because of allegations that he and four subordinates were involved in money laundering for the BNK Master gambling network.
The former deputy chief has denied the allegations, saying they were concocted by rivals on the force to block his path to the police chief’s position.
A long-simmering conflict between factions loyal to Pol Gen Surachate and Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol intensified in late 2023 after the latter was chosen as chief despite having less seniority than any other candidate. Pol Gen Torsak is the brother of ACM Satitpong Sukvimol, Lord Chamberlain and head of the Crown Property Bureau.
The feud became such a distraction for the force that then-prime minister Srettha Thavisin in March 2024 moved both police generals to inactive posts pending the outcome of an investigation.
The investigation report concluded that there had been factional conflict on the force for a long time, but said that investigations into alleged wrongdoing were for other bodies to decide.
It recommended the reinstatement of Pol Gen Torsak and also said Pol Gen Surachate had been “unfairly dismissed from duty pending investigation”.
Nevertheless, the Police Commission still went ahead and approved the dismissal order.
Rising star
Pol Lt Gen Surachate was long considered a rising star on the police force. He was rarely out of the headlines, placing himself front and centre at the scene of high-profile cases involving everything from immigration violators to illegal motorcycle racers, as well as computer crime cases involving another unit that he headed.
The son of a policeman, Surachate was born in 1970 in Songkhla. After joining the force, he quickly rose through the ranks to command a local station and later moved to Bangkok to head the 191 task force. From there he moved to the tourist police before landing the top job at the Immigration Bureau in 2018, and later becoming a deputy chief.
In 2020 Pol Gen Surachate was the apparent target of gunmen who fired seven bullets into his Lexus while it was parked on Surawong Road in Bangkok.
He denied the incident had been staged, saying the attack was related to the Immigration Bureau’s procurement of an expensive biometric screening system, which was recently revealed to be non-functional.
The case was never solved, and a senior officer was later dismissed over the leak of a recording in which a superior is heard telling him not to pursue the investigation.
In July 2023 it was reported that the National Anti-Corruption Commission was planning to file charges against former national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda and three other high-level officers in connection with the procurement of the biometric system. There has been no progress in the case since then.