The one-MP Seri Ruamthai Party has pulled out of the Pheu Thai Party-led government after its leader, Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, admitted to being overlooked by the ruling party.
In a briefing at the Seri Ruamthai headquarters on Thursday, Pol Gen Sereepisuth said the party executive board voted 7:4 on Tuesday to withdraw from the coalition government.
He said the party wanted to free itself and switch to the opposition bench so it could easily criticise government policies.
"It's been frustrating to let oneself be walked all over," Pol Gen Sereepisuth said.
A sore point in the party's relationship with Pheu Thai was that the ruling party was never committed to reforming the police force, said the former national police chief.
He said the party was only interested in having the final say on who would be the national police chief.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth added that while he was national police chief, he had been closely acquainted with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- Pheu Thai's de facto leader -- and his family.
He alleged that Thaksin and his ex-wife, Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, had asked him for a favour in appointing senior police, which he obliged.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth also visited Thaksin five times during the latter's 17 years in self-imposed exile overseas.
He also agreed to help some Pheu Thai politicians, through legal means, to have their political rivals sidelined after they were subject to investigations.
That was part of the reason Pheu Thai was able to win many House seats, he said.
When asked if Thaksin had promised him positions in the government, Pol Gen Sereepisuth said the former premier told him numerous times he felt indebted to him.
However, Thaksin overlooked him and did not promote him to key posts in the police force, he said.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth said he also visited Thaksin twice, first in November last year and again in February this year, while the latter was receiving treatment at the Police General Hospital (PGH).
Thaksin returned to the country on Aug 22 last year after 15 years in self-imposed exile. On that day, he was taken to the Supreme Court, which sentenced him to eight years in prison in three cases. That sentence was later reduced to one year via royal clemency.
On his first night at Bangkok Remand Prison, he was transferred to the PGH because he was suffering from chest pain, hypertension and low blood oxygen levels.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth said the purpose of his visit was to settle a malfeasance complaint he had filed with the National Anti-Corruption Commission against former prime minister Srettha Thavisin over Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol's appointment as the new police chief. Pol Gen Sereepisuth agreed to drop the complaint.
He denied turning the knife on Pheu Thai because he is not getting a deputy prime minister post in the Paetongtarn Shinawatra government.
He said Thaksin's transfer and how he came to spend a lengthy period at the PGH might land a certain minister, department chief and even a top hospital executive in legal trouble.
"All I can say now is I have severed ties with Thaksin after 51 long years of friendship," he said.