Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today apologized to his cabinet colleagues for his “unintentional” omission of some wording in the oath, which his entire cabinet swore in ceremony before His Majesty the King last month, and vowed to take sole responsibility for the blunder. Addressing a meeting of department heads and governors from across the country,
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today he had no intention to truncate the oath he took during the swearing-in ceremony in front of His Majesty the King last month, but will settle the issue himself. “It will be settled because I did not intend to make the mistake. They look at the intention,” said the
Thailand’s ombudsman has accepted for consideration a petition from Mr. Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Thai Constitution Protection Association, regarding Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s alleged incomplete recital of an oath in the swearing-in ceremony before His Majesty the King last month. The political activist wants the ombudsman to determine whether the Prime Minister violated Section
The simmering war of words between two female MPs, Future Forward spokeswoman Pannika Wanich and Palang Pracharat MP Pareena Kraikupt, has erupted into a legal battle, with both filing defamation charges against each other. Ms. Pannika filed a libel lawsuit with the Criminal Court this morning, accusing Ms. Pareena of implicating her and her party
Seniority will be the key criterion in determining the promotions of police officers under the regulations of the Police Commission, which have come into force after their publication in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday. If two officers are of the same rank, the officer who has served in that rank for the longer period is
Former deputy agriculture minister and a member of the Palang Pracharat party Wirat Rattanaseth and his wife, Mrs. Tassaniya, also a member of the party, were among 24 people and companies faulted by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for involvement in massive systematic corruption related to the construction of futsal courts in 18 northeastern provinces,
Former director of the National Office of Buddhism, Mr. Panom Sornsilp, has been found to be unusually wealthy by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for having amassed assets worth about 216 million baht. The wealth acquisition is allegedly related to corruption involving state funding for temple renovation and propagation of Buddhism. Mr. Panom was arrested
After almost a decade of investigation into the scandal surrounding the construction of 396 police stations across the country, the National Anti-Corruption Commission today voted unanimously to fault former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban for committing malfeasance in office in connection with the project. Mr. Suthep, former leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee which
The opposition Pheu Thai party has proposed the setting up of a 200-member people’s assembly, or Constitution Drafting Assembly, to draft a new Constitution. The existing one has been criticized as problematic, rigid and difficult to amend. Dr. Pokin Palakul, a member of the party’s strategic committee, told the media today that there are two
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has admitted, for the first time, that he did not recite the oath of office in full, as alleged by the Opposition, and is now trying to resolve the problem. Asked how he will resolve the problem by a reporter today (Tuesday), the Prime Minister shot back, saying “Don’t you understand
The Federation of Pattani Students and Youth (PerMAS-Persatuan Mahasiswa Anak muda dan Siswa PATANI) has denied reports that it is behind the series of explosions in Bangkok last Friday, claiming the report was fake and intended to discredit the organization, according to PerMas president Hafis Yokok. Mr. Hafis said that the information and images distributed
Thailand’s Justice Ministry is to investigate the electronic monitoring (EM) ankle bracelets rented by the Department of Probation from a Chinese company. This follows a complaint from a Thai firm that the device can be removed by the paroled offenders without the department being electronically alerted. The complaint was filed by Mr. Aekkaphol Kongphutorn, representative
