Thailand’s Police in 2025: Politicised Reshuffle and Endemic Corruption

The 5 September reshuffle of 249 generals and colonels in the Royal Thai Police was supposed to be clean and professional. The reshuffle was guided by promises made by Police Commissioner-General Kitirat Phanphet in early 2025 to clean up the force to make it nonpartisan, efficient, transparent, people-centred, and verifiable. The reforms prescribed promotions based on professionalism, while a recently created Office of Police Commission, an internal anti-corruption agency, was supposed to guard against police malfeasance and unfair reshuffles.

The annual reshuffle took effect on 1 October. But the reforms — which were supposed to be in line with the 2022 police reform law — were fairly meaningless. First, promotions appeared to be business as usual, defined by intense competition among different partisan and patronage-based cliques at all levels, including an increasing concentration of palace power over the police. Second, the year was marked by unprecedented allegations of widespread corruption within the police force. In other words, the promised reforms were no obstacle to business as usual.

All of this followed a two-year political tug-of-war over police promotions. Indeed, following the 2023 formation of the Pheu Thai (PT)-led government, the party, which is heavily influenced by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — attempted to enhance its influence over police appointments. Police promotions were thus clearly made for political reasons involving factional competition rather than professionalism. Some police personnel with insufficient patronage were demoted and subsequently cried foul. This happened in August 2025, amidst the impending reshuffle.

These developments are consistent with a longstanding precedent: police promotions are most prominently advanced via well-placed factions, including those grouped by pre-cadet and/or cadet class. Police from cadet class 41 have been promoted given that Kitirat is a class peer. But police factions have also been grouped by shared politics or unit. By the time of the 2025 reshuffle, the three most senior police factions were: arch-royalist bureaucrats centred in the National Police Commission; officers close to PT and Thaksin; and cops favoured by the palace (also known as the “Elephant Ticket Gang”). Political strongmen, such as Thamanat Prompao, Newin Chidchob and past Police Commissioner Suwat Jangyodsuk (deemed to be close to the palace) also exerted some sway.

The judiciary’s removal of PT’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister on 29 August severely weakened PT, including its influence over police reshuffles. Then, on 7 September, with the replacement of the PT-led coalition by the conservative Bhumjaithai, revelations of promotional injustices petered out. It could be that disgruntled cops hoped for better treatment from the new Bhumjaithai government after PT’s influence over police had dissipated (because it no longer led the government). Indeed, earlier attempts by PT to remove Kitirat as Royal Thai Police Commissioner-General ended (Kitirat is regarded by many as being close to the King). Palace favourites, such as Police Lieutenant-Generals (LG) Samran Nuanma, Jirapop Puridej, Natthasak Chaowanasai, and Natapol Srisopa were promoted, with years of service ahead of them. Favourites of PT either gained few senior appointments or have to retire in 2026 (Table 1). Samran and Jirapop are in line to successively command the police, perhaps after a stopgap commissioner-general who follows Kitirat, such as LG Nirandorn. 

Meanwhile, retiring Deputy Police Commissioner LG Kraibun was appointed to the Police Guard (RPG) under the palace-directed Royal Security Command (RSC). The RSC is effectively headed by Jirapop’s brother Jakrapop. Kraibun serves as deputy under RPG Commander Police-General Atthakorn Tipayasothon. This further cements palace influence over the regular police.

The partisan-based annual reshuffle was only the tip of the iceberg. Corruption is seen to be deeply entrenched in a police force which had already long been viewed as one of Thailand’s most malfeasant institutions. Allegedly, well-connected officers demand “tribute” from people for protection; these officers also pay “tribute” to patrons for promotions.

Despite Kitirat’s promises of reform, the force remains beset by the same problems, from assertions of police involvement in human trafficking to the de-licensing of two police physicians who had claimed that Thaksin’s illness allowed him to stay at a police hospital. There was also the arrest of a policeman for encroaching on public land.

In October, after a seven-month investigation, the Police Complaints Review Board formally accused LG Torsak Sukvimol and over 200 senior officers of bribery and corruption.

LG Torsak, who was the Commissioner-General in 2023-2024, is the brother of Royal Household Secretary-General ACM Satitpong Sukvimol, Given the history of the partisan-plagued police, however, the case would probably go nowhere.

… police reform efforts appear toothless and unenforceable, as evidenced by the persistence of entrenched partisanship and malfeasance.

LG Surachate Hakparn, who had often uncovered instances of police corruption, was dismissed in 2023 for alleged involvement in an illicit online gambling network. In November, Surachate — a police rival to Torsak — asserted before a parliamentary committee that 30 senior police officers had illegally been on the bankroll of online gambling networks, including one whose name started with the initial “T”. He said that he had tried to petition Police Commissioner-General Kitirat but nothing had ensued. Surachate, who called the police “the largest criminal gang in Thailand”, filed two criminal defamation lawsuits and another case against Kitirat for abuse of power, corruption, and misconduct. Interestingly, a police station deputy in Bangkok was arrested for online fraud in October.

In conclusion, police reform efforts appear toothless and unenforceable, as evidenced by the persistence of entrenched partisanship and malfeasance, which appear alive and well in Thailand’s police. Factionalism — which is closely linked with and enhances both phenomena — looks set to continue dominating police reshuffles. Though the police can be helpful on some issues, in the case of Thailand, coercion, partisanship, and corruption remain the legacies of policing. In other words, it is business as usual. If anything, the police and their reshuffles need to be independently monitored by elected civilians, judicial officials and NGOs. The opaqueness of Thailand’s police, as an institution which practices violence with impunity. The fact that the force enjoys legitimacy as a tool of Thailand’s kingdom is an obstacle to much-needed police reform. As long as the beneficiaries of this broken system continue to lead and dominate the police, any reforms will likely not succeed.

Business As Usual

Table 1: Police Reshuffle (5 September 2025)

2025/367