Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will be nominated as the country’s new prime minister in a parliamentary vote, her party and its coalition partners said Thursday.
The move follows the removal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin by court order over an ethical violation a day earlier.
Anyone from Thailand or the general vicinity able to offer more nuance on the governmental happenings lately? I know it’s still a (constitutional?) monarchy, but the stories I’ve seen of late seem to indicate the current king and government are acting in a pretty high-handed fashion.
I’m not from Thailand, though my understanding is that a progressive party won the elections (defeating military-backed incumbents), but was prevented from forming government, and then forcibly dissolved, on the grounds of raising the suggestion of relaxing tough laws against criticising the monarchy. Is this more or less right?
Yeah, that’s more or less what I’ve seen in articles recently. Also, contextually, I know the previous king was (imo rightly) beloved by most Thais, as he HUGELY improved the average quality of life and did a bunch of modernization, and his son (the current king) is just a vapid playboy asshole who goes through wives like new cars.