Thailand’s new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Thailand has postponed its hosting of next month’s BIMSTEC summit of the leaders of seven mostly South Asian countries until after a new administration is formed, its foreign ministry said on Friday (August 23, 2024).

Thailand currently has a caretaker government following a court’s dismissal of Srettha Thavisin as Premier last week and his successor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has yet to name her cabinet.

The summit had been due to take place in Bangkok from September 3-4. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) includes Thailand, India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan and its leaders meet every two years for a summit.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin could be thrown out of office this week when the country’s Constitutional Court rules on his appointment of a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.

The case comes a week after the same court disbanded the kingdom’s main opposition political party and banned its former leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, from politics for a decade.

Mr. Srettha is accused of violating ethics rules by appointing Pichit Chuenban, a lawyer closely associated with the family of billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as a minister.

Mr. Pichit was sentenced to six months in prison in 2008 for a corruption-related offence.

Mr. Pichit resigned from his role in a bid to protect Mr. Srettha, but the Constitutional Court still agreed to hear the case, initiated by a complaint from army-appointed senators.

Mr. Srettha, whose Pheu Thai leads a multi-party coalition government, has said Pichit underwent thorough vetting.

The PM has suggested the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle if he remains in office, according to local media.

If he is removed from office, Pheu Thai would have to nominate a new candidate for prime minister. 

The Constitutional Court has dismissed Prime Ministers in the past, but analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said he does not expect the prime minister to be kicked out.

“I think he will survive because it is hard to find a replacement,” he told AFP.

“He also hasn’t done anything wrong and he is hardworking.” 

Mr. Srettha, a real estate developer who entered politics last year, has seen his policies face significant opposition since he came into office, with a June poll showing that a majority of Thais reject his agenda.

He has pledged support for marriage equality, which was enacted in June after years of advocacy by the LGBTQ community.

His proposals to recriminalise cannabis and distribute 10,000 baht ($280) to over 40 million Thais have sparked controversy both nationally and within his coalition.

The case comes as critics, including Mr. Pita, warn against the use of “a politicised court as a weapon to destroy political parties”.

The European Union, the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups have blasted the court’s decision to disband Mr. Pita’s Move Forward Party (MFP), with the EU saying it harmed democratic openness in Thailand.

The remaining members of MFP launched a new movement on Friday (August 9, 2024), named “The People’s Party”, with the ambition of bringing change in the next national election, scheduled for 2027.

Thailand has suffered bouts of political instability for decades, undergoing a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.

A general view of Thailand Senate. (File photo used for representational purpose only.)
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Forty caretaker senators on May 17 petitioned Thailand’s Constitutional Court to dismiss Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over a Cabinet appointment which they say breaches the constitution.

The senators object to the appointment of Pichit Chuenban, a former lawyer, as Minister to Mr. Srettha’s office last month during a Cabinet reshuffle.

Mr. Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 for contempt of court after an alleged attempt to bribe court officials with two million baht ($55,218) [($1 = 36.2200 baht)] hidden in a paper grocery bag. His law licence was suspended for five years by the Lawyers Council of Thailand after the incident.

The senators said they were seeking a court ruling on whether Mr. Pichit has the integrity and ethical standards required by the constitution to hold a Ministerial position and whether Mr. Srettha had breached the law by making the appointment.

“Pichit is not qualified to be a Minister but the Prime Minister still nominated him for the position,” Senator Derekrid Janekrongtham told Reuters. “The Prime Minister’s action may therefore breach ethical standards as well,” he said.

Government critics say Mr. Pichit was appointed to the Cabinet due to his close relationship with a client, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in exile. Mr. Thaksin still wields considerable political influence over the government.

Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke dismissed the senators’ accusation, and said the government had carefully vetted Mr. Pichit’s qualification. “Our legal team insists that the appointment is lawful and there is no problem with his qualification,” Mr. Chai told Reuters.

The 40 senators, whose term ended earlier this month but who remain as caretakers until a new selection process is completed in July, are part of an appointed Upper House of Parliament introduced by the military when it changed Thailand’s constitution after a 2014 coup.

Last year, the same senators closed ranks with military-backed parties to block the anti-establishment Move Forward party from forming a government.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin reads the policy statement at parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Thailand’s new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin vowed to act quickly to relieve the country’s economic problems in his inaugural speech to Parliament on September 11, following four months of political uncertainty while parliamentarians were unable to agree on a government.

Mr. Srettha entered politics after a career as a major real estate developer, and his government is facing high expectations and pressing demands to address a range of economic, political, social and environmental problems in its four-year term.

Thailand’s economy has slumped after the COVID-19 pandemic all but crippled its lucrative tourism industry. Public debt rose to more than 60% of GDP in 2023, while household debt spiked to over 90% of the GDP this year, he said.

Thailand’s post-pandemic economy is like “a sick person,” with a sluggish recovery that puts the nation “at risk of entering a recession,” Srettha said.

He vowed to quickly take measures to relieve debt problems, mitigate rising energy costs and boost tourism, without going into detail.

He also said the government would work immediately to implement a campaign promise — a 10,000-baht ($280) handout for all Thais 16 and older to stimulate the economy by boosting short-term spending. Details were not given, though he’s previously said it would cost up to 560 billion baht ($15.8 billion) and will be ready to deliver by the first quarter of next year.

The promise drew major interest in the election campaign, but critics have questioned whether it would have a sustainable effect.

Long-term goals cited by Mr. Srettha include boosting international trade, supporting start-up businesses, investing more in transport infrastructure, improving agricultural production, empowering local government and increasing access to land ownership. The government would also seek to amend the current military-installed constitution through a process that allows public participation.

These steps would allow the economy to grow and its people to be able to “live with dignity,” he said.

The results of Thailand’s elections in May revealed a strong mandate for change after nearly a decade under military control.

But Parliament failed to endorse a coalition formed by the progressive Move Forward party, which won the most seats in the May polls, because members in the appointed and conservative Senate were alienated by its calls for minor reforms to the monarchy.

Mr. Srettha’s Pheu Thai party, which ran a close second in the election, then formed a broader coalition without Move Forward and was able to win Senate support. But it succeeded only by including pro-military parties and several parties that were part of the previous government, reneging on a campaign pledge not to do so. The deal raised skepticism over Pheu Thai’s ability to fulfill its election campaign promises while having to accommodate its allies that come from all along the political spectrum.

Reforms to the military — a powerful political player that has staged two coups since 2006 — were part of the platforms of both Move Forward and Pheu Thai, Srettha addressed the point diplomatically in his speech, promising “co-development” with the military to end mandatory conscription, reduce the excessive number of generals and ensure transparency in defense ministry procurement procedures. The ministry is headed by Pheu Thai’s Sutin Klangsang, one of the few civilians to hold the portfolio, usually controlled by veteran senior military officers.