Thai court orders dismissal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office for appointing a minister with a criminal conviction, throwing the kingdom into new political turmoil.
Judge Punya Udchachon, reading the ruling on Wednesday, said the court voted 5-4 to remove Srettha, whose appointment of former lawyer Pichit Chuenban, jailed for six months in 2008 for contempt of court conviction, fell short of official moral and ethical standards.
The ruling comes less than a week after judges voted 6-3 to accept a petition submitted by 40 senators to remove Srettha from office, but they rejected an application to suspend him from his duties as prime minister pending the probe.
Pichit resigned from his role as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday in a bid to protect Srettha.
The real estate tycoon is the fourth Thai prime minister in 16 years to be removed by verdicts of the same court.