Thai court dismisses PM Srettha

Case centers around appointment of an official in violation of ethics rules

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from his position after less than a year in office for breaching ethics rules by appointing a lawyer who had served a jail term to his cabinet.

The case against Srettha centers around the appointment of Pichit Chuenban as a minister of the Prime Minister's Office. In 2008, Pichit was sentenced to six months' imprisonment on charges of attempting to bribe a court official.

Although Pichit resigned from the cabinet in May, a decision seen as a bid to spare Srettha from legal trouble, the court pressed ahead with the case initiated by a complaint from a group of 40 senators.