Final punchline for ‘Big Joke’ as career of star policeman extinguished by scandal

Police General Surachate Hakparn’s rollercoaster career may have finally come off the tracks after three decades of twists ended with his dismissal as deputy national police chief and rejection of his appeal.

The colourful presence of the man dubbed “Big Joke” appears to be over, with little chance of him being reinstated to the force.

A general assembly of Supreme Administrative Court judges voted last Wednesday (November 13) to reject Surachate’s petition challenging the Royal Thai Police’s dismissal order. The petition was his last-ditch attempt to salvage his police career.

The court’s ruling by 49:5 votes against Surachate followed reports that a five-judge panel had agreed unanimously that his dismissal was unlawful and his request for an injunction should be granted.

The Supreme Administrative Court has yet to issue an official verdict in the case, however.

The 54-year-old was on the cusp of becoming Thailand’s top cop last year when he was the senior-ranking candidate for the post of national police chief. Though younger than his three rivals, he was the first among them to become a deputy police chief.

However, Surachate’s chances were apparently dashed when he was linked to an illegal online gambling network.

He complained the allegations were part of a plot to prevent him from becoming police chief.

The Police Commission, chaired by then-prime minister Srettha Thavisin, ended up appointing the least senior candidate, Pol General Torsak Sukvimol, to the top job.

Had he won the post, Surachate would have been Thailand’s most powerful police officer until 2030, serving for seven years before reaching mandatory retirement at age 60.

Meteoric rise

Surachate was born in the southern province of Songkhla on October 29, 1970, to a junior policeman. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Police Cadet Academy, a master’s and a doctorate in criminology and justice administration from Mahidol University, and a doctorate in public administration from Eastern Asia University.

He began his police career in 1994 as a deputy inspector, rising to inspector in a Chiang Mai Highway Police unit six years later.

He was promoted to deputy superintendent at 34 and superintendent at 38 before becoming deputy commander of Songkhla police at 42.

While serving in his home province, he also led a forward command overseeing insurgency-hit border districts of Songkhla, which earned him bonus years on his service record – a privilege preserved for officers in the insurgency-hit southern border provinces.

The extra years of service helped secure his meteoric rise at a relatively young age.

In 2015, Surachate was appointed to lead the Tourist Police as bureau commissioner. In the same year, he was tasked with liaising between the police force and the Prime Minister’s Office. He reported directly to then-deputy premier General Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversaw the force at that time.

Surachate had not even reached his 45th birthday when he was promoted to major general. He became commissioner of the Patrol and Special Operation Division, aka 191 Police, in 2016. In 2018, at the age of 48, he was promoted to lieutenant general and made chief of the Immigration Bureau.

He doubled as head of the Police Cyber Taskforce, giving him the authority to launch investigations across Thailand. High-profile cases and the press conferences that accompanied them saw Surachate quickly rise to national prominence.

Down but not out

Surachate survived three tumultuous decades of troubles and triumphs in his career.

In 2009, he was accused of demanding bribes by a Nakhon Phanom businessman while serving as a superintendent in the Anti Trafficking in Persons Division. Surachate was investigated by a disciplinary committee but managed to clear his name.

In 2019, then-prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha transferred Surachate to the Prime Minister’s Office over alleged malfeasance, removing him from the police force to the civil service. Surachate challenged the transfer order at the Administrative Court but lost the case.

At the time, many believed his police career was over. However, he defied expectations by returning to the force in 2021. In March of that year, Surachate was appointed assistant national police chief – a post believed to have been created especially to facilitate his return.

Following his comeback, Surachate managed to rebuild his public profile and was promoted to deputy national police chief, apparently on track for the top job. But disaster struck when he was implicated in the online gambling scandal.

A feud at the top of the police force between factions headed by Surachate and Torsak led to a rare double transfer of both top cops to the PM's Office in March.

Both were reinstated a few months later. But while Torsak regained the police chief's seat and held the post until his retirement at the end of September, Surachate became involved in a legal fight against his dismissal.