'Big Joke's' fall from power

High-profile probes into gambling networks and bribery reshape the balance of power within Thai policing, writes Wassayos Ngamkham

- Wassayos Ngamkham

Surachate: Ready to fight

From deputy police chief to a man facing arrest warrants, the downfall of Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn has become one of the country’s most dramatic policing sagas.

Pol Gen Surachate, 55, once among the most recognisable faces in the Royal Thai Police (RTP), has now been dismissed from the RTP. He is widely known as “Big Joke” as Joke is his nickname and “Big” is a way the media normally calls high-ranking officials.

As then-deputy national police chief, Big Joke cultivated a high public profile, strong media presence and close ties with senior political figures, including Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, former deputy prime minister. His supporters saw him as a reform-minded officer with momentum towards the top job, while critics viewed his rapid rise as controversial.

That trajectory collided with reality on Sept 25, 2023, when cybercrime police arrived at his Vibhavadi Rangsit residence with a search warrant in hand. The operation followed a lengthy investigation into a large illegal online gambling network and suspicious financial transactions linked to police officers.