The biggest loser of 2024? Surachate Hakparn falls from police stardom to scandal

Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn suffered a tumultuous 2024, as Thailand’s highest-profile policeman was ousted from the force in a humbling and very public fall from grace.

Any hope he had of salvaging his once-dazzling police career was dashed when the Supreme Administrative Court officially rejected complaints about his dismissal. It also threw out his plea for an injunction against his dismissal order on Dec 16.

Surachate, aka “Big Joke”, had risen to the post of deputy national police before falling foul of a gambling scandal and a feud with his boss.

His personal life has also turned rocky, with his wife, lecturer Sirinadda Hakparn, accused by another policeman’s spouse of stealing gold and cash and having an affair with her husband.

Surachate has so far refused to comment on her case.

Down and out?

While 2024 has been harsh for Surachate, the 54-year-old former star cop refuses to bow out of the public limelight, instead working hard to maintain his support base.

His latest Facebook updates highlight his efforts to help flood victims in Songkhla, where he grew up and first met his wife. He has also been busy preparing transport for migrant workers to return to their southern home provinces during the New Year holidays.

Some believe that Surachate is biding his time before making a grand return to public life. He continues to assert his innocence and has vowed to find a way back into the police force.

Cat with nine lives?

Surachate had survived three tumultuous decades of a rollercoaster career before this year. In 2009, he was accused of demanding bribes while serving as a superintendent in the Anti-People Trafficking Division. He faced a disciplinary probe but managed to clear his name.

In 2019, then-prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha abruptly transferred Surachate to the Prime Minister’s Office over alleged malfeasance. 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 as a special strategy adviser, a post apparently created especially for him. His new position was at the same level as assistant national police chief.

Following his comeback, Surachate quickly won a promotion to deputy national police chief and was seemingly on track for the top job. But disaster struck when a feud at the top of the police force between factions headed by Surachate and police chief Torsak Sukvimol led to both top cops being transferred to the PM's Office in March this year.

The pair were reinstated a few months later, but while Torsak regained his chief's post and held onto it until his retirement at the end of September, Surachate was summarily dismissed from the force after being linked with an illegal online gambling syndicate.

Accusations against wife

He suffered a further blow when a special lecturer at the Royal Police Cadet Academy accused his wife Sirinadda of stealing 5.7 million baht in cash and gold ornaments and having an affair with her husband, a police colonel.

Sirinadda, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, surrendered to police on charges of breaking into a condo and taking valuables.

Although she denies the allegation and has filed a counter-complaint against her accuser, the image of Surachate’s seemingly perfect marriage has been shattered.

Surachate and Sirinadda met as students at a tennis court in Songkhla. However, their parents disapproved of their relationship, leading the young couple to part ways.

Though hailing from a humble background compared with Sirinadda, Surachate showed his talent by rapidly climbing the police career ladder and was eventually accepted by his young love’s parents. The couple tied the knot in 2013 but have no children.