Pol Gen Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn, a former deputy police chief, was fired on Friday by a police disciplinary committee over his alleged involvement in an online gambling network.
The police officer can still appeal the ruling.
The decision brings the long and colourful career of the high-profile lawman closer to an end. Pol Gen Surachate has been sidelined since August last year, when a royal command was issued to have him removed from the force, on the recommendation of the Police Commission.
Pol Gen Surachate then appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled in December the removal bid was legally just. All that remained to be decided was the punishment the force would impose. The firing and loss of pension now await the endorsement of the national police chief, Pol Gen Kittharat Punpetch.
A committee meeting was held on Friday, chaired by deputy national police chief Pol Gen Kraibun Thuadsong, according to a police source. All of the other deputy chiefs were present, but Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, an inspector-general, was absent, the source said.
Pol Gen Surachate later told the media he was unaware of the latest decision. He said he wanted to review the committee's report before deciding whether to appeal further.
Pol Gen Surachate can file an appeal with the Police Ethics Protection Commission to have the firing overturned, the source said.
If the commission supports the decision of the disciplinary committee, Pol Gen Surachate may file a case with the Supreme Administrative Court. The disciplinary case will be finalised following the court's decision, and if he is found guilty, his police rank will also be withdrawn.
Pol Gen Surachate, a high-profile figure with a flair for self-promotion, has attracted unwanted publicity over the past year because of allegations that he and his four subordinates were involved in money laundering for the BNK Master gambling network.
The former deputy chief has denied the allegations, saying they were concocted by rivals on the force to block his path to the police chief's position.
The son of a policeman, Surachate was born in 1970 in Songkhla. After joining the force, he quickly rose through the ranks to command a local station and later moved to Bangkok to head the 191 task force. From there he moved to the tourist police before landing the top job at the Immigration Bureau in 2018, and later becoming a deputy chief.
In 2020 Pol Gen Surachate was the apparent target of gunmen who fired seven bullets into his Lexus while it was parked on Surawong Road in Bangkok. He denied the incident had been staged, saying the attack was related to the Immigration Bureau's procurement of an expensive biometric screening system, which was recently revealed to be non-functional.
The case was never solved, and a senior officer was later dismissed over the leak of a recording in which a superior is heard telling him not to pursue the investigation. Pol Lt Gen Surachate was long considered a rising star on the police force. He was rarely out of the headlines, placing himself front and centre at the scene of high-profile cases.
