As Gen Tesa, who previously served as a commissioner on the National Security Council, officially officially took up the post of Region 8 Police Commander on Thursday, his predecessor, Gen Decha, took command of the Royal Thai Police Office of Budget and Finance in Bangkok.
Gen Tesa vowed to crack down on crime, drugs, criminals and human trafficking in his area of command, which comprises seven of the 14 Southern Thailand provinces: Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Ranong, Chumporn, Surat Thani and Nakhon Sri Thammarat.
However, Gen Tesa told The Phuket News today that his crime-fighting areas of focus would be much broader than just his main points.
“I’ll be here for a while, so there’ll be plenty of time of explain my plans for future campaigns later,” he said.
National police chief at the time, Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang, who retired on Wednesday (Sept 30), said the RTP had decided to relocate the Region 8 office to Phuket because it is Thailand’s most famous destination and it generates the highest revenue from tourism. (See story here.)
The new Police Region 8 Headquarters officially opened on September 11 on a 159 rai plot of land close to the islandʼs main checkpoint in Mai Khao. (See story here.)