Deputy Chief of National Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, asserts he has no intentions of seeking revenge against muiltiple high-ranking officers in spite of their conduct towards him, even though he has confidential data that he claims could lead to their downfall.
“I don’t want to get revenge. I have plenty of information. If I expose it, everyone at the Royal Thai Police [RTP] is doomed.”
“But I will not reveal it yet. I still want to protect the [police] force,” he stated during a television program on Channel 9 on Wednesday.
Pol Gen Surachate made these remarks following a conspicuous search of his leased residence in Bangkok on Monday, which was a part of an investigation into internet gambling platforms.
The search, sanctioned by superiors within the Royal Thai Police, stemmed from previously uncovered financial activities linked to gambling websites.
The inspection of Pol Gen Surachate’s leased residence in Bangkok was part of a mission, dubbed “Big Cleaning Day,” that focused on 30 locations in Bangkok and five provinces: Phetchaburi, Samut Prakan, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, and Saraburi.
Numerous other residences were owned by officers closely associated with Pol Gen Surachate, and they are purportedly connected to online gambling operations in Laos, managing approximately one billion baht.
On Wednesday, Pol Gen Surachate directed his legal counsel, Ananchai Chaidej, to lodge a complaint with the Criminal Court of Southern Bangkok, accusing contempt of court in the police’s request for arrest warrants for eight of his colleagues.
He stated that the investigators who applied for the arrest warrant did not disclose their ranks.
Had they done so, a summons would have been issued instead of an arrest warrant, as stated by Pol Gen Surachate. He deemed the granting of warrants to the police as improper.
Earlier, Pol Gen Surachate lodged a complaint regarding contempt of court in the police’s request for a warrant permitting the search of five of his rented residences.
He conveyed that the application hid truths by not notifying the court about his occupancy in the houses. Additionally, the substantial armed unit conducting the searches did so in a manner that impaired his reputation.
“If the court had known they were my houses, it would have acted fairly because I do not face prosecution,” said Pol Gen Surachate.
Nonetheless, he conceded on Wednesday that the five residences indeed are owned by a businessman from Udon Thani, known as “Taem”. He leased the residences from him and allocated two to his subordinates.
