By Thai Newsroom Reporters
PRIME MINISTER Paetongtarn Shinawatra is not going to visit the Constitutional Court on the upcoming Friday to hear an historic court verdict on an impeachment lawsuit which might probably warrant an ouster of her as head of government if judged guilty of perpetrating conduct in severe breach of ethics and manifested lack of evident honesty.
Instead of being present in court to hear Friday’s verdict on the impeachment case filed against her, the beleaguered Paetongtarn, daughter of de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, has opted to literally keep her distance from court and instead visit Government House from where she will be monitoring it in company of Pheu Thai MPs and members of cabinet, according to Somkid Chuakhong, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister.
Paetongtarn who has been suspended by the Constitutional Court from running the country as head of government pending Friday’s court ruling whilst currently performing as culture minister practically has access to certain quarters of Government House, however.
The impeachment case lodged by 36 senators accuses the prime minister of severely violating a politician’s ethics and doing without evident honesty allegedly tantamount to an act of treason at the cost of Thailand’s national interests and prestige and with territorial integrity of the country at stake during last June’s leaked cellphone conversation between senior Cambodian leader Hun Sen and herself pertaining to Thai-Cambodian border conflict.
A parallel lawsuit has been filed by a group of political activists to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and supposedly destined for the Supreme Court judges in charge of criminal lawsuits against persons in political positions amidst fears that the earlier-lodged one might probably be lifted by the Constitutional Court, albeit by a narrow margin among the total of nine judges of the court.
If found guilty as charged by either court, Paetongtarn would not only be deprived of elected premiership but prohibited from engaging in political activity at any levels for a number of years or for life.
Meanwhile, the deputy secretary-general to the prime minister categorically dismissed allegations that as much as two billion baht in payoffs would be clandestinely offered to coalition legislators in exchange for their yea votes to cast in support of Pheu Thai MP Chaikasem Nitisiri for prime minister in case that Paetongtarn be ousted by court on the upcoming Friday.
Somkid was apparently responding to speculation that Chaikasem, one of a trio of Pheu Thai contestants for prime minister in the 2023 general election, would likely be rivaled by Bhumjaithai leader/former deputy prime minister-cum-interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul to replace Thaksin’s daughter as the next prime minister.
The Bhumjaithai under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob are currently part of the opposition bloc after they had parted company with the Pheu Thai-led coalition government last June.
CAPTION:
Top and Front Page: Suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra attending a National Culture Committee meeting to select National Artists at the Culture Ministry today, August 27, 2025. Photos: Thai Rath
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