From 1970 to 1975 he was on the Border Patrol Police special company fighting the communist insurgency in Thailand. Later he commanded the troops responsible for a section of the Thai-Burmese border. Later he was leader of the Border Patrol Police in the whole northern sector. In this position his main challenges were fighting drug-related crime, shutting down several heroin factories in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Mae Hong Son, and counter-insurgency. In 1994, he was promoted to national commander of the Border Patrol.