Thailand’s Police in 2025: Politicized Reshuffle and Endemic Corruption
Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Police General Kitirat Phanphet (center-right) speaks with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (center-left) during a site visit of the Samsen Road collapse in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 24, 2025 | Photo from สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ (Royal Thai Police, Kingdom of Thailand) / Twitter
In an article for Fulcrum, Paul Chambers discusses the reshuffling of 249 generals and colonels in the Royal Thai Police. Although the annual reshuffle is meant to be clean and professional, it has done little to eradicate malfeasance and partisanship in the force.
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.
