The former police commander who oversaw Bangkok’s main nightlife area and shook up officer ranks following last year’s Erawan Shrine bombing has been tapped to head the Chonburi Provincial Police.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Somprasong Yentuam, most recently the chief of Metropolitan Police Bureau Division 5 – which covers Bangkok’s go-go bars and discos of lower Sukhumvit Road – now takes jurisdiction over free-wheeling Pattaya.
Gov. Pakarathorn Thienchai announced Somprasong’s appointment at the monthly provincial administration meeting Nov. 1. Somprasong succeeds Pol. Maj. Gen Amphon Buarubporn.
Prior to his Division 5 assignment, Somprasong suspended 16 police officers following the arrest of a suspect in the deadly Aug. 17, 2015 attack and the discovery of bomb-making materials in an apartment under their jurisdiction.
Other new appointments that became effective Oct. 1 include the naming of former Yala Prison chief Watcharawit Wachilerpan as warden of the Pattaya Remand Prison; ex-Nakhon Nayok tourism boss Chanarong Suhongsa as the head of the Tourism and Sports Ministry office in Chonburi; and former Sriracha School Principal Cherdchela Kaewpraden taking over as director of Cholkanyanukul School.
