BANGKOK – When Srettha Thavisin, Thailand’s recently ousted prime minister, learned that he had been removed from office by a 5-4 vote of the Constitutional Court, his response was resigned and dignified: “I accept the decision of the Constitutional Court, but I want to confirm that during my almost one-year tenure as Prime Minister, I tried to do everything right.”
Srettha’s fatal mistake was allowing a convicted criminal into his cabinet, but no sharp accusations were made. There is no appeal against the Constitutional Court’s verdict, and he was well aware of the contempt of court laws that form part of Thailand’s terrifying package of defamation legislation. The strictest is the Lese-Majeste law, which aims to abolish anything perceived as harmful to senior members of the royal family.
