Police Lieutenant General Piya Uthayo was appointed as the new deputy chief of police on Friday by a police selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha.
Piya will be replacing Police General Wirachai Songmetta who has been removed from the deputy police chief position.
In January, Wirachai was moved to an inactive position under the Prime Minister’s Office for dismissing an order made by Police General Chakthip Chaijinda, the outgoing national police chief.
On January 9, a recorded conversation between Wirachai and Chakthip was leaked to the public where the national police chief allegedly ordered Wirachai to stay away from a shooting case.
The case was related to an incident which involved multiple shots being fired at an SUV belonging to Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn, the former immigration chief, on January 7.
Wirachai has allegedly denied that request, according to the record.
By July, Prayut, who is in charge of the Royal Thai Police Office, reinstated Wirachai to the deputy chief position on July 24 before he was removed from the position again on July 29.
Piya was the spokesperson of the Thai police before being appointed as the new deputy chief of police.
New Chief of Cyber Police
Another prominent selection is that of Police Major General Kornchai Klayklueng who is now the new head of the Technology Crime Suppression Division which makes him the country’s first chief of cyber police.
The unit is in charge of combatting cybercrime, including “fake news.” They are also operating under the Computer Crimes Act which human rights experts believe is being used by the Thai government as a political tool to silence dissidents online.