Anutin says no Phuket deputy governor can move governor, orders fact check

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told a Ministry of Interior policy meeting on June 15 that claims circulating on social media about a Phuket deputy governor being able to transfer the Phuket governor were false, and said the matter should be checked against the facts.

The issue was raised after Phuket Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn finished briefing the meeting on influential figures in the province. Anutin referred to online reports about conflict in Phuket and asked who was supposedly seeking to remove the governor.

According to the report, Nirat replied that only the prime minister could move him. Anutin said that if such a report had been submitted, he would hold the Phuket governor responsible because a governor must supervise subordinates. He also said Nirat was not an ordinary governor, describing him as a former director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration.

Permanent Secretary of the Interior Arsit Sampantharat said a provincial governor acts as the government’s representative in the province and must address problems and protect confidence in the administration.

The meeting became more tense when Anutin read out social media posts referring to Phuket, including allegations about encroachment on public land, links to influential figures, and claims of a power struggle between the Phuket governor and a deputy governor referred to as "Deputy Seafood." The posts cited in the report included allegations that an associate of the deputy governor had encroached on land behind Cherng Talay police station and on beach areas for benefit, and questioned whether the governor or deputy governor had stronger political backing.

Anutin said he did not believe everything posted online, but repeated criticism required a factual review. He said that where there is smoke there may be fire, and asked what should be done if people with influence were inside the ministry’s own organization after he had already ordered a crackdown on such figures. He said the most worrying possibility would be state officials supporting illegal acts and that he would not allow that in the Interior Ministry.

He then asked whether the person referred to in the posts was present in the meeting, saying he did not know the individual. Arsit also repeatedly asked for the person being referenced to be identified, saying such reports affected the image of both the province and the ministry, and that anyone wrongly accused should explain the facts.

The Phuket governor said all deputy governors were present and proposed that the ministry set up a committee at ministry level to investigate the matter fairly for all sides.

During the exchange, a deputy governor with the nickname "Kung," or shrimp, said there was another deputy governor with the same nickname and asked to submit a written explanation because several parties were involved. The report said the deputy governor would later submit a written explanation of the facts, and Anutin instructed that it be sent through the permanent secretary of the Interior. The report identified the person Anutin was asking about as Phuket Deputy Governor Theerapong Chuaychu.

Anutin said no deputy governor had the authority to transfer a provincial governor, calling such a claim impossible, absurd and untrue. He also described it as "idiotic." He said the authority to appoint or transfer governors rests with the Interior Ministry’s formal process, led by the permanent secretary and the interior minister before submission to the cabinet. He said anyone claiming to have the power to transfer a governor was not telling the truth.

He added that he wanted the permanent secretary and the Phuket governor to discuss the matter and give him an answer before his planned trip to Russia on June 16, and said he would question the permanent secretary himself over what he called a personnel-management failure.

After the meeting, Anutin said the atmosphere had not been as tense as some observers suggested, and described the discussion as a warning to all agencies to continue suppressing influential figures and crime seriously. He also said reports of a working conflict between the Phuket governor and a deputy governor were unfounded, while the permanent secretary would examine the matter based on facts.

Anutin added that the problem of influential figures in Phuket had not ended, and said there were reports that witnesses had been threatened until some changed their statements. He said he had ordered the Phuket governor to take decisive action on the issue. He also said rumors that a deputy governor could transfer a governor should not be believed, likening the claim to a joke.