The former head of the Thai immigration service Surachat Hakparn (Big Joke) says he wants to return to the police force. Before that, he went to pray at Wat Bueng Kradan in Pitsanulok City in Central Thailand and asked Buddha to be allowed to return to the Thai police.
At the height of his career, he was Major General Surachat Hakparn, head of Thai emigration. With political leaders like Prawit Wongsuzan at his side, a fast career in the Thai police seemed certain. His name was mentioned first in every major event such as tackling drug crime or illegality. Surachat was in the news almost daily between 2017 and 2018, but was suddenly fired in 2019 and given a desk job with the Bangkok police. Not long after, he made an extensive trip abroad. When he returned this year, his parked car was shot at from a car, but the perpetrators were not identified as they were wearing full face helmets!
The former Thai immigration chief denied that this event was staged. He linked it to an earlier event in which tendering procedures for the immigration authorities faced many conflicting interests (read: kickbacks). This involved the purchase of high-quality expensive equipment to check passengers at the airports.
In a written statement, Surachat asked National Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda to cancel the projects while he was still head of the Immigration Department in 2019. The projects, which have since been worth 2 billion baht, include the purchase of biometric devices to scan the faces and fingerprints of passengers at Thailand's six major airports. It is clear that he stepped on some very sensitive toes. However, Surachat did not let that stop him. He did warn the then police chief Chaktip if he would not be able to track down the attackers. The government has publicly warned him not to go too far. Furthermore, no comment is made about a possible return of Surachat Hakparn within the police organization.
Source: Thaiger
If you read all the coverage of this case and a lot has already been written about it, you can read between the lines what happened. Corruption and self-advocacy at a high level can be found everywhere in Thailand, including the police, politics, etc. This commissioner did not (or insufficiently) participate in the dirty games that were and are being played. There is always hope for him, but as long as nothing changes at the top, his return will not happen. Sometimes you have to keep credit to yourself and there is more than police work, in which you can do good work and where integrity is appreciated. I hope he will see this too, because life is short and let yourself be treated this way and turn the other cheek. I advise against him.