Thai court dismisses PM Srettha over cabinet appointment

BANGKOK — Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday (Aug 14) dismissed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for appointing to his cabinet a former lawyer who served jail time, raising the spectre of more political upheaval and a reset of the governing alliance.

Real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin becomes the fourth Thai premier in 16 years to be removed by verdicts by the same court, after it ruled he violated the constitution by appointing a minister who did not meet ethical standards.

Srettha Thavisin's removal after less than a year in power means parliament must convene to choose a new premier, with the prospect of more uncertainty in a country dogged for two decades by coups and court rulings that have brought down multiple governments and political parties.

The same court last week dissolved the anti-establishment Move Forward Party, the hugely popular opposition, ruling its campaign to reform a law against insulting the crown risked undermining the constitutional monarchy. It regrouped on Friday under a new party.

Srettha Thavisin's Pheu Thai Party and its predecessors have borne the brunt of Thailand's turmoil, with two of its governments removed by coups in a long-running grudge match between the party's founders, the billionaire Shinawatra family, and their rivals in the conservative establishment and royalist military.

The decision could rock a fragile truce between political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra and his enemies among the conservative elite and military old guard, which enabled the tycoon's return from 15 years of self-exile in 2023 and ally Srettha Thavisin to become premier the same day.

Srettha Thavisin had maintained his appointment of former Shinawatra lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who was briefly