The Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket) on Friday night (June 26) announced that His Majesty the King had “graciously appointed” Mr Nirat as Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior.
In a separate announcement, PR Phuket confirmed the appointments of two senior Interior Ministry officials under the Royal Decree.
The announcement stated that Mr Nirat had been relieved of his position as Governor of Phuket and appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, while former Deputy Permanent Secretary Chotinrin Kerdsum had been appointed the new Governor of Phuket.
According to the announcement, both appointments took effect from last Thursday (June 25), and were announced last Friday (June 26).
The confirmation formally brings into effect a Cabinet decision approved on June 16 transferring Mr Nirat to Bangkok after just 210 days in office.
However, since Cabinet approved the reshuffle, Mr Nirat had refrained from performing official duties as Phuket governor while awaiting royal endorsement, effectively leaving the province without an active governor for almost two weeks.
The official announcements made no mention that Mr Nirat’s transfer formed part of a sweeping purge of Phuket’s senior provincial administration, which also saw the immediate transfers of Vice Governors Adul Chuthong and Teeraphong Chuaychoo.
The reshuffle followed direct intervention by Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul amid mounting corruption allegations, claims of influence by powerful local figures and escalating internal conflict within Phuket’s provincial administration.
Government officials have maintained that the transfers were made to improve administrative efficiency and restore effective governance in the province.
Speaking after Cabinet approved the reshuffle on June 16, Prime Minister Anutin said Phuket remained a province of critical economic importance and that the government would not tolerate allegations of land encroachment, intimidation of residents or the influence of powerful figures.
"We need people who do not have conflicts and who can work together," he said at the time.
Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Arsit Sampantharat later described the reshuffle as necessary to resolve persistent disputes within Phuket’s administration, saying conflicts among senior officials had become a near-daily topic on social media.
Both PM Anutin and Mr Arsit avoided any mention of corruption among officials as any part of the ongoing crisis.
Mr Chotinrin, a former governor of several southern provinces, now assumes responsibility for Phuket as the government seeks to restore stability while investigations into allegations of corruption, benefit-seeking and abuse of authority continue.
With the latest appointments now in effect, the number of senior Phuket officials removed or transferred since May has reached at least eight, marking one of the most significant overhauls of the province’s administration in the island’s history.