Charnthep also insisted that Aoun Loyfa, whom he claimed to know from a previous amulet contest, wasn’t the same person as the embattled Pol Sub-Lieutenant Manas Termthanasak as some Thai news reports had claimed.

Manas is under investigation for handing out to 60 fellow policemen traditional red ang pao envelopes, each reportedly containing Bt500 in cash and a talisman, at his home in Bangkok’s Thon Buri district last week, as well as other alleged misconduct.

Charnthep said that, as far as he knew from their Facebook connection, Aoun Loyfa and Manas were respecting each other as if they were relatives.

Charnthep said the Metropolitan Police Area 7-assigned fact-finding investigation into the ang pao gifts should yield an initial result by February 21. He said police would also check if the policemen, seen in a viral video clips as standing in a queue to take ang pao from Manas, were on the clock for working at the time – which would be stipulated a breach of conduct.

Charnthep also said that the initial probe didn’t find any record of Manas having been arrested in relation to a gambling den. He added that he hadn’t personally heard of Manus being the owner of a gambling den. Charnthep said he was confident that Metropolitan Police Area 7 would conduct a through investigation into Manas, who wasn’t an officer under the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

On Monday, national police deputy chief Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul referred to a report that Manas had allegedly been linked to “grey” businesses over the past decade, including a gambling den, and said deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakhan would be in charge of the investigation.