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Police General Sereepisuth Temeeyaves (; , originally: Seri Temeeyaves; ; born 3 September 1948) is the leader of Thai Liberal Party, a Party List member of the 25th and 26th
House of Representatives of Thailand The House of Representatives (, , ) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democrac ...
, and the chairman the 25th National Assembly's Committee on Corruption Prevention and Suppression. Sereepisuth is a former Commissioner of the
Royal Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) (; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excluding the military and the employees of state-owned enterprises). The R ...
between February 2007 and April 2008 by a
military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
, replacing Kowit Wattana as the fifth Commissioner. Sereepisuth was removed from office in April 2008 by then prime minister Samak Sundaravej under charges of corruption. PM to look into allegations of corruption of Gen Seripisut The junta also appointed him Director of the
Airports of Thailand Airports of Thailand plc (AOT) () is a public company that manages ten international airports in Thailand. AOT was established on September 20, 2002, as a result of the privatisation of the state-owned Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT). At t ...
, along with Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr. Sereepisuth gained his reputation from targeting mafia leaders like "Kamnan Poh" ( Somchai Khunpluem) and "Por Pratunam" (Phaijit Thammarojphinij). In his earlier days, he fought against the Communist Party of Thailand in the northeastern region of Thailand, becoming a recipient of the Order of Rama Medal for Gallantry in Action, which was commonly given to soldiers and rarely a police. and gained the moniker "Hero of Na Kae". Personally, he is married to Phatsaweesiri Thepchatri Temeeyaves () and has three children.


Early life

He was born and raised in historic
Thonburi __NOTOC__ Thonburi () is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which is ref ...
(in an area currently assigned to
Nonthaburi Nonthaburi (, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand. On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai subdistrict (''tambon''), j ...
) to a Teochew background family, his surname was given by
King Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and promote Siamese nationa ...
on 18 March 1914, list 2081. Seri graduated from the 8th class of the
Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School The Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School or AFAPS (Thai: โรงเรียนเตรียมทหาร) is a senior high school in Nakhon Nayok Province. It is a flagship institution of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters. The c ...
and graduated in the 24th class of the Royal Thai Police Cadet Academy. He took part in anti-communist operations in the Northeast, where he became close friends with Manoonkrit Roopkachorn. Because of this association, he was purged from the police after the NPKC Coup of 23 February 1992. He was later rehabilitated and allowed back into the police force. As assistant director of the 2nd Region Police, Seri was in charge of the 1994 arrest of " Kamnan Poh" in the ''Khao Mai Kaew'' land corruption case. In 2003, a court found the influential Kamnan Poh guilty and sentenced him to jail. Seri rose through the ranks of to become Inspector-General. Under the government of
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...
, he was assigned to several high-profile corruption cases, including the longan subsidy scandal, the Bobae mafia case, and the Government Public Warehouse rice screening case. Sereepisuth came into conflict with Army officer Maj General Khattiya Sawasdipol of the
Internal Security Operations Command Internal Security Operations Command (; ) or ISOC (; ) is the internal security agency and political arm of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. It was responsible for the suppression of leftist groups from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period it ...
while investigating the " Por Pratunam" gambling den of Phaijit Thammarojphinij. Sereepisuth filed a libel lawsuit against Khattiya, although Khattiya was acquitted in November 2006. After Sereepisuth was promoted to Police Commissioner General, Khattiya filed a 600 million baht defamation suit against him.


Police Commissioner General

On 5 February 2007, Sereepisuth was appointed Police Commissioner General by the military junta that had overthrown the government of
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...
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 The Southern Thailand Insurgency (; ) is an ongoing conflict centered in southern Thailand. It originated in 1948 as an ethnic and religious separatist insurgency in the historical Malays (ethnic group), Malay Patani (historical region), Patani ...
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 Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until Death and funeral of Bhumibol Adulyadej, his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any List of Thai mo ...
'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 The Council for National Security (; ; abbreviated CNS (), was the military junta that ruled Thailand between its 2006 Thai coup d'état, coup d'état against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006 until the later coup d'état on ...
(CNS) rather than his own staff. After numerous bombs were exploded simultaneously on 27 May 2007 in
Hat Yai Hat Yai (, , also Haad Yai or Had Yai) is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fifth-largest city in Thailand with a population of 191,696 (2024) in ...
, 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 Songkhla (, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ, Singoro), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies ...
. 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 Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...
. Sereepisuth agreed with the CNS. Junta critic Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol was convicted for defaming and sentenced to jail for 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 The Bank of Thailand (BOT; Abbreviation, abbr. ธปท.; , ) is the central bank of Thailand. History The Bank of Thailand (BOT) was first set up as the Thai National Banking Bureau. The Bank of Thailand Act was promulgated on 28 April 1942 ...
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 Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
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.General Seripisuth is asked about the Kuehne and Nagel tax evasion investigation
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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


25th National Assembly of Thailand

Sereepisuth reemerged in the politics of Thailand, becoming a member to the House of Representative through his Party List as the first listed. Despite the previous merits received from military junta, Sereepisuth actively shows opposition to Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Prime Minister from another junta. His expression of opposition, often through stoic sarcasm and real actions, circulates sproadicaly among Thai Netizens as political dark humor.


The Committee on Corruption Prevention and Suppression

Sereepisuth was nominated the chairman of the committee on corruption prevention and suppression. In the post, Sereepisuth actively engages in anti-corruption, especially against the government party's affiliations. Among his list of investigations were Sira Jenjaka and Pareena Kraikupt, fellow committee members from the
Palang Pracharath Party Palang Pracharath Party (, , ; ) is a Thai right-wing conservative civil-military political party with ties to the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta that ruled the country after the 2014 coup. It was established in 2018 by ...
who had been known to 'actively pester' him. They had been deposed from the house of representative after being thoroughly debunked of their misqualifications by Sereepisuth.


26th National Assembly of Thailand

Sereepisuth continued his political career after the Dissolution of Parliament. The result of 2023 Thai general election saw Thai Liberal Party not receiving enough vote for one full party list member, but nonetheless enough for partial round-up, granting Sereepisuth a seat in the House of Representative as the sole member of his party. On May 22 that year, before the results were certified by the Election Committee, Sereepisuth, as the leader of his party, signed a historical memorandum of understanding with seven other parties, led by Move Forward Party and Pheu Thai Party, forming a coalition that aspired to form the new government. On July 4, Sereepisuth approved Pita in his nomination to be the next prime minister, an approval that had been rendered futile. Sereepisuth's apparent political stance took a vicious turn after the Parliament failed to provide enough approval vote for Pita to become the prime minister. On the day the Parliament voted whether Pita could be renominated, he skipped the meeting, and shortly after, stated harsh and controversial comments against the younger people, so-called "orange ''dom''", who are mostly voters of the Move Forward Party. Since then, he openly declared displeasure against the youngsters, and openly declared that he would later take legal action against them after the government is formed. The most devastating actions so far was when Sereepisuth targeted a certain MP from the Move Forward Party, Nakornchai Khunnarong, who had a criminal record and served prison time, more than a decade before the election, in attempt to charge for misqualifications. Nakornchai, in response, immediately announced to resign from his seat before any actions were taken, admitting to the record, but nevertheless claimed his innocence in the case.


See also

* Sonthi Boonyaratkalin *
Council for National Security The Council for National Security (; ; abbreviated CNS (), was the military junta that ruled Thailand between its 2006 Thai coup d'état, coup d'état against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006 until the later coup d'état on ...
* Surayud Chulanont * Kowit Wattana


References


External links


Sereepisuth.com
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