Sanit said he accepted the results of an autopsy by Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital on Pol Lt Colonel Jan Chaisawas as credible. He said the case was still being investigated by a team from Metropolitan Police Area 9, but he personally didn’t rule out other motives for Jan’s death.

The autopsy report said Jan, 55, died of asphyxiation and there was no trace that he had been assaulted.

Jan’s death came a few days after he submitted a petition challenging two orders from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – a move many believe would pave the way for police reform.

Sanit said police would also try to identify the person who published posts with allegedly twisted facts that suggested Jan was assaulted.

Meanwhile, deputy police spokesman Pol Maj Gen Songpol Wattanachai said only some police thought the orders to scrap the posts of inquiry officers in the force would have adverse impacts. This was despite the fact that they didn’t know or had not studied how it would be done, he said.

A survey had found 66 per cent of police inquiry officers wanted to move out of their field of work and obtain career advancement, he said. He affirmed this change would bring about good things including boosting efficiency in police work and better benefits and pays to officers.

Meanwhile, former Democrat MP Watchara Phetthong urged Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya to get the Department of Special Investigation take up the probe into Jan’s alleged suicide, because letting the Royal Thai Police handle it would cause society to lack confidence and doubt about their findings.

He also revealed that a police investigator asked him to provide information in regard to the Line chat conversation he had with Jan – which he accepted, on condition his testimony be given at his party office. Watchara said the officer told him that police hadn’t found Jan’s cell-phone and house key yet and were still looking at security camera footage to find out how Jan’s motorcycle was left at the mouth of the soi.