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.

American singer Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has sparked a diplomatic row as she is performing six sold-out shows in Singapore, which have disappointed the country’s neighbours, as per a report in the Independent. The exclusivity clause negotiated by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, which forbids Ms Swift from performing anywhere else in Southeast Asia, has led to a backlash among the city-state’s neighbours over the arrangement, which is estimated to be worth about 14 million pounds.

The ‘Lover’ singer is performing six shows in Singapore from March 2 to 9. Thailand and the Philippines have criticised the same and have branded the deal “unfriendly”. They have expressed that they are being deprived of the increase in tourism linked to her concerts.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he was informed of the agreement that Ms Swift will not do any other shows in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Citing a concert promoter, he said that Singapore offered Ms Swift up to US$3 million per concert if she did not play anywhere else in Southeast Asia, according to Sky News.

“The Singapore government is astute. If she came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organise it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand. Even though we would have to subsidise at least 500m baht, it would be worth it,” he said.

The Thai PM said in a keynote speech at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok, “If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand. Concerts can generate added value for the economy.”

Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda said that the deal  “isn’t what good neighbours do”. “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.” Although he mentioned that it boosted Singapore’s economy, it was done “at the expense of neighbouring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concertgoers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore.” He further said that the Philippines should not “just let things like these pass.”

Meanwhile, the Singapore PM confirmed that Ms Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund created to revive Singapore’s tourism sector following the Covid-19 outbreak. “It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly. Sometimes one country makes a deal, sometimes another country does. I don’t explicitly say ‘you will come here only on condition that you’ll not go to other places,” he added.

Additionally, he suggested that when Ms Swift performed shows in Sydney and Melbourne before her performance in Singapore, Australia may have come to similar “mutually acceptable, sensible arrangements.” “If that’s what’s needed to be done to get an outcome which is mutually beneficial and which, from Singapore’s point of view, serves not just to grow the economy but also to bring in visitors and goodwill from all over the region, I don’t see why not,” Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said.

He stated, “If we had not made such an arrangement, would she have come to someplace else in southeast Asia or more places in southeast Asia? Maybe, maybe not. These are things that she will decide.”