What do former Department of Special Investivation chief Tarit Pengdith, former defence permanent secretary Gen Nipat Thonglek, and former House of Representatives secretary-general Suwichak Nakwatcharachai have in common? They have been given new jobs that do not fill them with enthusiasm.
Since taking over the country in a coup a month ago, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has issued a series of orders transferring several top officials thought to have close links to the Yingluck Shinawatra administration to work at Government House.
Based on the transfer orders issued by the NCPO, the public must imagine Government House as a place where many senior state officials now rub shoulders. In reality, the seat of government is not as busy as one might think.
"Few senior figures on the transfer list have showed up to survey their offices. Usually those who have been transferred here will look around and select their offices. But we've spotted no one. If they had been here, they must have made contact," a Government House official said.
High-profile officials who were re-assigned after May 22 coup include Mr Tarit, Gen Nipat, Mr Suwichak, and former ICT permanent secretary Surachai Srisarakam.
Also joining them, as of last week, are former chief of Employment Department Prawith Khiangphol and Decha Pruekpattanarak, former director of the Office of Foreign Workers Administration, who have been shunted to the PM’s Office.
One senior official has been spotted at Government House, however. Former police chief Adul Saengsingkaew was among the first to have been reassigned to the office even though he keeps his post on the NCPO.
Pol Gen Adul has been keeping a low profile. Generally he presides over meetings and oversees routine administrative operations.
He rarely makes public comments and, if possible, will try to avoid the press by entering his office in the Banchakarn 1 Building through the side and back doors.
According to Government House officials, Pol Gen Adul uses one of the offices on the first floor in Banchakarn 1 Building as his work station. Government House reporters are not allowed to enter the building unless permitted.
While Government House is where key decisions and policies are made, it is also a place reserved for state officials who do not answer to the government's policy.
In the Yingluck administration, Thawil Pliensri was assigned to work as a prime minister's adviser at Government House when he lost his job at the National Security Council. Mr Thawil claimed he never received assignments that fit his expertise.
An official attached to the Prime Minister's Office who identified herself as Sathitporn said it is no secret that transfers of senior officials to Government House mostly involve inactive posts. She is not sure if the NCPO's transfer policy will be any different. "I am not sure if it will be the same. Some of the top officials here are of high calibre," she said.
ML Panadda Diskul, permanent secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, is one man smiling after his NCPO transfer. His new job is more senior than his old one, as deputy interior permanent secretary.