General Kowit Watana has finally been removed as the police chief after months of speculation that the junta was unhappy with his loyalty and performance.

Kowit's departure was no surprise. He was seen as a crony of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. All but the timing of his removal had been virtually certain.

Rumours about Kowit's removal began in early November. Certain members of the Council for National Security (CNS) were said to be irritated with a transfer order endorsed by Kowit that would have seen officers with close ties to Thaksin holding significant positions.

Kowit even allowed a few former senior police officers, who had resigned to take up key posts in the Thaksin government, to return to high-ranking posts in the police service.

Although Kowit was a deputy chairman of the now-defunct Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), which staged the coup, he was downgraded to a mere membership role in the CNS, which replaced the CDR.

Some of his CNS colleagues were said to have had doubts about his loyalty as he had been reluctant to join the coup on the night of September 19.

He reported himself to the new rulers a day later.

Kowit was the only CNS member who was absent from the ceremony appointing Surayud Chulanont as Thailand's 24th prime minister on October 1 - one day after the CNS issued an announcement limiting his power and reshuffling the agency's personnel.

Certain CNS generals are unhappy with Kowit over the slow progress in proceeding with lese majeste complaints filed against Thaksin - one of four main reasons the military used to justify its coup.

Four cases have been dropped by criminal courts, allegedly due to weak investigative reports from the police.

As Kowit was a classmate of CNS chairman General Sonthi Boonyaratglin at pre-Cadet school, the CNS was said to be considering offering Kowit a face-saving move - an elevation to the post of third deputy prime minister, possibly overseeing national security - after his dismissal as chief of police.

Kowit has also been blamed for the slow progress by the police in identifying those responsible for the more than 40 arson attacks at schools across the country since the coup.

As rumours of Kowit being shown the door gained ground, Surayud kept denying them. According to Sonthi, Surayud was the only person who could issue the order to sack Kowit.

Surayud had said there was no attempt to remove Kowit.

A new round of rumours that Kowit would be removed started after his handling of the investigations into the bombings on New Year's Eve raised eyebrows among the military leaders.

They saw the police stake out 18 sites - mostly military compounds in greater Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom and Lop Buri - before calling military officers for questioning.

The arrests did not impress Sonthi. He warned Kowit that if the suspects turned out to be "scapegoats", the police chief would suffer the consequences.

Observers wondered whether Kowit was attempting to discredit the military while the generals were planning to reform the police.

Kowit's failure to find the bombers was seen as the last straw, forcing the CNS to hand Surayud an ultimatum that the police chief had to go.

However, Kowit's removal will rid the police department of many of the problems brought by his connections to the deposed regime, and the accusations that they were dragging their feet in many of the ongoing investigations.

However, if more bombings occur, he'll be remembered as a scapegoat.

Political Desk

The Nation