General Patcharawat on leave or not to leave, that is the question

Thanong says on leave:


Police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwan has taken leave of about 30 days from his office, giving Pol General Thanee Somboonsap a free hand in his investigation into the assassination attempt on media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul.

Patcharawat's leave is a result of a compromise between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister, who has been keen to protect the police chief. Abhisit has been under pressure to sack Patcharawat, who is understood to have stood in the way of Thanee's investigation.

Abhisit took an unusual step by holding an impromptu news conference at The Emporium department store in Bangkok and announcing Patcharawat's leave. He was supposed to hold the news conference earlier in the morning, but it had to be delayed due to further behind-the-scenes negotiations for the best face-saving way out.


Abhisit said that starting next week, Patcharawat would take leave for 10 days, after which period he would be allowed to rest further so that the police chief would be out of his office for about a month. This move was initiated by Patcharawat himself,


General Patacharwat says he is not on leave:

Police chief Pol Gen Phatcharawat Wongsuwan insisted on Saturday morning that he has no plan to take leave for one month as stated at Friday’s press conference by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Pol Gen Phatcharawat admitted that he had met and discussed with the premier on Friday afternoon but had never submitted a letter asking for a permission to take leave as the media reported.

He is scheduled to pay a ten-day official visit to China in his capacity as the police chief as earlier planned.

The police chief insisted that after returning from China he will not take leave and will perform duties as usual.

Asked about his insistence was not in line with what Mr Abhisit had stated, Pol Gen Phatcharawat said he had no idea because he had never known what the premier had said.

Mr Abhisit had said on Friday late afternoon that the police chief agreed to take one month leave to pave way for full investigation into the attempted murder of Sondhi Limthongkul, a core leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy.

The premier also insisted that there would be no removal of the police chief.


Thanong is usually wrong and his predictions are never true, so I believe that Patcharawat isn't going anywhere except to China for 10 days.

Abhisit is proving time and time again that he is just a boy who is way over his head.

The real problem Abhisit has is that he is an illegitimate PM who owes his position to the PAD, the military and the BJT party. He has no democratic mandate. Indeed, he is less popular than Thaksin. If that Frankenstein coalition goes after each other or after Mark, things will fall apart. The people won't be rallying to Mark's side. They know he has no legitimacy in the first place and just a stooge of other power brokers who despise Thaksin.