Premsak was serving as the Muang Ban Phai major in Khon Kaen province last July when a picture went viral on the Internet suggesting that he might have married or become engaged to a schoolgirl.

Reporters then turned up at his office looking for an interview. But they ended up being detained against their will, with one of them being partially stripped, reportedly on Premsak’s orders.

When the scandal broke, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha suspended Premsak from duty.

Khon Kaen governor Pongsak Preechawit said on Monday that he had not yet officially received the order to dismiss Premsak in writing, so had not yet taken any action.

“But once the order officially arrives, I will act on it,” he said.