Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office, after a ruling found he broke an ethics code by appointing a minister to cabinet who had spent time in jail.
Last week Move Forward—which won almost 38 percent of votes in Thailand’s general election in May 2023—was formally dissolved by the Constitutional Court, over its plans to reform the country’s lèse-majesté laws.
Its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, was blocked from becoming prime minister after the election.
Srettha’s Pheu Thai party came second in the election, with 29 percent of the vote, but he was installed as prime minister in August 2023 after weeks of political deadlock.
Thaksin Returns After 15 Years in Exile
A few weeks later after Srettha became prime minister, Pheu Thai’s political figurehead, the controversial tycoon and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, returned to Thailand after years of self-imposed exile.In April this year, after a reshuffle, Srettha appointed Pichit Chuenban to his cabinet.
Pichit, a lawyer who had represented Thaksin and his wife, was jailed for six months in 2008 on contempt of court charges.
It was claimed he had tried to bribe a judge with 2 million baht ($55,000) in cash, hidden in a lunch box, if he would drop charges against Thaksin.
Pichit later resigned from the cabinet but the Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday, by five votes to four, his appointment was a breach of ethics and was so serious as to require Srettha to be removed from office.
The court ruled that Srettha had sole responsibility for vetting his cabinet nominations and said he knew about Pichit’s past, but still nominated him.
The government will remain in place, and Deputy Premier Phumtham Wechayachai will be caretaker prime minister until Thailand’s parliament approves a permanent replacement.
To become prime minister, a candidate needs the support of more than half of the lower house of parliament’s 493 members.
Who Could Be Next Prime Minister?
Among the likely candidates who may be put forward is Thaksin’s 37-year-old daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is the leader of the Pheu Thai party.Other possible runners are former Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri, and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who leads the Bhumjaithai Party, which has 71 seats in parliament.
The leader of the conservative Thai Raksa Chart party, Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, may also seek to garner support for his candidacy, along with Prawit Wongsuwan, a former army chief whose Palang Pracharat party has 40 seats in parliament.
In the last 23 years—since Thaksin was first elected prime minister after winning a landslide victory in 2001—Thailand has been polarized between conservatives and progressives.
Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon, drew most of his support from the impoverished and largely rural North and East of the country, and promised wealth redistribution.
He was removed in a military coup in 2006, by an army which had the strong support of royalists and many urban Thais.
When democracy was restored, Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, formed the Pheu Thai party and became prime minister but she too was ousted in another coup in 2014, by army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, who won an election five years later.
Prayuth later fell out with others in the Palang Pracharat party, and formed another party, United Thai Nation, which won 36 seats in last year’s election.
But his son, Maha Vajiralongkorn, was deeply unpopular partly because of his conduct and his scandalous love life, details of which have long been discussed on social media.
In 2019 King Maha married the deputy head of his personal security detail and gave her the title of queen.
