On 5 February 2007, Sereepisuth was appointed Police Commissioner General by the military junta that had overthrown the government of
Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006. He replaced
Kowit Wattana, who had served as Police Commissioner General under the Thaksin government. There was great speculation about the motivation behind the replacement, as Kowit had earlier arrested several military personnel for alleged involvement in the
2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings.
Purging of the police force In his first staff reshuffle, Sereepisuth transferred Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Viroj Chantarangsi to the provinces in the Lower North. Those close to former Commissioner Kowit Wattana and deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra were transferred to inactive posts. At the same time, he promoted police officers with close connections to him to powerful posts. Viroj, a classmate of Kowit, was replaced by Adisorn Nonsi, a former close aid of Sereepisuth. Pol Lt-Gen
Thawornsak Thepchatree, an elder brother of Sereepisuthh's wife, was appointed adviser to the National Police Office. Pol Lt-Gen
Jettanakorn Napeetaphat, who is married to the sister of Prime Minister Surayud's wife, replacing Pol Lt-Gen
Adul Sangsingkeo in dealing with the
South Thailand insurgency as Region 9 Commissioner.
Criticism of Prem Tinsulanonda Sereepisuth came under fire for his role in a petition to remove General
Prem Tinsulanonda from his leadership of King
Bhumibol Adulyadej's
Privy Council. Police Special Branch Commander Lt-General
Theeradech Rodpho-thong refused to file charges of
lèse majesté against activists who launched a petition, claiming that the law only applied to members of the royal family. Two days later, he was demoted by Sereepisuth.
Relationship with the junta Sereepisuth often sided with the
Council for National Security (CNS) rather than his own staff. After numerous bombs were exploded simultaneously on 27 May 2007 in
Hat Yai, the police Special Branch claimed it was confident that the explosions were linked to the
southern insurgency. The Special branch cited intelligence reports from two days before the blasts warning that two youngsters from the southern provinces were sneaking explosive devices into
Songkhla. However, the CNS spokesperson claimed that there was reason to believe that the bombs were set off by people who were losing political power, a common euphemism for the deposed government of
Thaksin Shinawatra. Sereepisuth agreed with the CNS. Junta critic Maj Gen
Khattiya Sawasdipol was convicted of defaming and sentenced to four months in jail after he criticised Sereepisuth's crackdown on gambling dens.
Friends of Seri Foundation controversy Sereepisuth is the Chairman of the
Friends of Seri Foundation and involved in controversial loans made to businessman and junta-associate
Thanaboon Jiranuwat. Thanaboon's construction business was losing money, and he received an 18% interest-rate loan from Sereepisuth's foundation in September 1996. Thanaboon wrote 14 cheques worth 300,000 baht each to the foundation as repayment. Thanaboon's banks returned the cheques unpaid, and Sereepisuth sued Thanaboon. Thanaboon was acquitted by the Criminal Court but convicted on appeal. He later appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the loan agreement violated the foundation's objectives and regulations, and that the interest rate was above
Bank of Thailand limits. On 8 February 2007, the Supreme Court upheld Thanaboon's conviction in which Thanaboon was sentenced to 40 months in jail.
Kühne + Nagel tax evasion controversy On 8 March 2007, Akbar Khan submitted a request to investigate alleged
tax evasion by
Kühne + Nagel to Sereepisuth in his office. Two weeks later, Sereepisuth's secretaries claimed that the request was lost. The request was later resubmitted to Sereepisuth's deputies. Khan claimed that the deputies noted that the case was not worthy of investigation. When questioned about the matter by Khan in public, Sereepisuth said he could not recall meeting with him, but promised to follow up on the matter.
Removal from office Sereepisuth was removed from office in April 2008 by the elected government of
Samak Sundaravej under charges of corruption. His supporters, however, claim that these charges are put-up jobs to punish him for prosecuting many cases against the militarily deposed former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. ==Political careers==