Thailand Set For Another Acting PM After Cabinet Reshuffle
The Southeast Asian nation's top office was plunged into turmoil on Tuesday when the Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra pending an ethics probe which could take months.
Power passed to transport minister and deputy prime minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit who took office for only one full day, as the bombshell was dropped in an awkward interim ahead of the reshuffle.
When former defence minister Phumtham Wechayachai is sworn into his new position as interior minister he will also take on a deputy prime minister role outranking Suriya's -- thus becoming the acting premier.
Before Paetongtarn was ousted she assigned herself the role of culture minister in the new cabinet, meaning she is set to keep a perch in the upper echelons of power.
The revolving door of leadership comes as the kingdom is battling to revive a spluttering economy and secure a US trade deal averting Donald Trump's looming threat of a 36 percent tariff.
Phumtham is considered a loyal lieutenant to the suspended Paetongtarn and her father Thaksin Shinawatra, the powerful patriarch of a dynasty which has dominated Thai 21st-century politics.
Thaksin-linked parties have been jousting with the pro-military, pro-conservative establishment since the early 2000s, but analysts say the family's political brand has now entered decline.
The 71-year-old Phumtham earned the nickname "Big Comrade" for his association to a left-wing youth movement of the 1970s, but transitioned to politics through a role in Thaksin's telecoms empire.
In previous cabinets he held the defence and commerce portfolios, and spent a spell as acting prime minister after a crisis engulfed the top office last year.
Paetongtarn has been hobbled over a longstanding territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, which boiled over into cross-border clashes in May, killing one Cambodian soldier.
When she made a diplomatic call to Cambodian ex-leader Hun Sen, she called him "uncle" and referred to a Thai military commander as her "opponent", according to a leaked recording causing widespread backlash.
A conservative party abandoned her ruling coalition -- sparking the cabinet reshuffle -- accusing her of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining the military.
The Constitutional Court said there was "sufficient cause to suspect" Paetongtarn breached ministerial ethics in the diplomatic spat.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Vietnam's Laid-off Communist Officials Face Uncertain Future
Sipping green tea in his garden of roses, ex-communist party official Nguyen Van Cuong says he is "jobless but happy" after Vietnam cut 80,000 state roles this week. But fretting at home after leaving public employment once considered a job-for-life, Nguyen Thi Thu told AFP she feels "empty" over a future that is no longer certain. Vietnam is in the midst of a dramatic remaking of its state apparatus, with 100,000 positions slated to be scrapped as Hanoi seeks to streamline bureaucracy and boost the economy. On Monday, 80,000 roles were slashed as most of the Southeast Asian nation's provinces and cities were merged. Feelings are mixed among newly unemployed apparatchiks -- communist party officials whose jobs were once guaranteed. "It's really a waste for the state to lose one like myself," said 56-year-old Cuong, who served in Bac Giang province outside Hanoi. Bac Giang was merged into a neighbouring province's administration. The government said those caught in the overhaul would either be made redundant or offered early retirement. Cuong told AFP he could have remained in his post -- or even been promoted -- but chose to accept a $75,000 payoff for his remaining six years after a 30-year state career. "It's time to rid myself of so much complexity in state politics," he said. The mass reorganisation overseen by Vietnam's top leader To Lam echoes steps taken by US President Donald Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei to take an axe to government spending towards "efficiency". Former district-level secretary Thu admits she may not have been able to manage the burdens of the job as management prioritised performance. The 50-year-old felt she had no option but to resign when her office was relocated to the Mekong delta province of An Giang, more than 70 kilometres (44 miles) from her home. "I resigned, not because I wanted to quit my job," Thu said. "It's better to resign rather than waiting for a dismissal order." Vietnam -- a global manufacturing hub -- recorded economic growth of 7.1 percent last year and is aiming for eight percent this year as it vies for "middle-income country" status by 2030. But the country is facing headwinds from key trade partner the United States. Trump threatened a 46 percent tariff before settling on a 20 percent rate in a deal announced on Wednesday -- a levy five times the rate before he took office the second time. Vietnam's deputy finance minister said the new administrative structure would bring "strong scale to connect strong business and economic infrastructure" and create "greater socio-economic development". Lam, the Communist Party general secretary, said Monday that "the decision to reshape the nation is a historical landmark with strategic meaning" aiming "to continue our path towards a socialist country... for people's happiness". But for Thu, the way forward is now unclear. "I don't know what to do next," she said. Scrolling carefree on his phone and chatting with friends online, Cuong said he had few regrets over his voluntary redundancy. He feels like Vietnam may be the one missing out on what he has to offer. "I could still contribute more to the state sector," he said. In Hanoi, a former local authorities' building was closed due to Vietnam's administrative downsizing from 63 provincial and city administrations to 34 AFP The mass reorganisation overseen by Vietnam's top leader To Lam echoes steps taken by US President Donald Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei to slash public spending AFP
Int'l Business Times
5 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
US-Vietnam Trade Deal Sows New China Uncertainty
Vietnam's trade deal with the United States averts the most punishing of Donald Trump's "reciprocal" levies but analysts warned it could provoke a fresh standoff between Washington and Beijing. The Southeast Asian nation has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States of any country after China and Mexico, and was targeted with one of the highest rates in the US president's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz on April 2. The deal announced Wednesday is the first full pact Trump has sealed with an Asian nation, and analysts say it may give a glimpse of the template Washington will use with other countries still scrambling for accords. The 46 percent rate due to take effect next week has been averted, with Vietnam set to face a minimum 20 percent tariff in return for opening its market to US products including cars. But a 40 percent tariff will hit goods passing through the country to circumvent steeper trade barriers -- a practice called "transshipping". Washington has accused Hanoi of relabelling Chinese goods to skirt its tariffs, but raw materials from the world's number two economy are the lifeblood of Vietnam's manufacturing industries. "From a global perspective, perhaps the most interesting point is that this deal again seems in large part to be about China," said Capital Economics. It said the terms on transshipment "will be seen as a provocation in Beijing, particularly if similar conditions are included in any other deals agreed over coming days". Shares in clothing companies and sport equipment manufacturers -- which have a large footprint in Vietnam -- rose on news of the deal in New York. But they later declined sharply as details were released. "This is a much better outcome than a flat 46 percent tariff, but I wouldn't celebrate just yet," said Hanoi-based Dan Martin of Asian business advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates. "Everything now depends on how the US decides to interpret and enforce the idea of transshipment," he added. "If the US takes a broader view and starts questioning products that use foreign parts, even when value is genuinely added in Vietnam, it could end up affecting a lot of companies that are playing by the rules." Vietnam's government said in a statement late on Wednesday that under the deal the country had promised "preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars". But the statement gave scant detail about the transshipment arrangements in the deal, which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. Bloomberg Economics forecast Vietnam could lose a quarter of its exports to the United States in the medium term, endangering more than two percent of its gross domestic product as a result of the agreement. Uncertainty over how transshipping will be "defined or enforced" is likely to have diplomatic repercussions, said Bloomberg Economics expert Rana Sajedi. "The looming question now is how China will respond," she said. "Beijing has made clear that it would respond to deals that came at the expense of Chinese interests." "The decision to agree to a higher tariff on goods deemed to be 'transshipped' through Vietnam may fall in that category," added Sajedi. "Any retaliatory steps could have an outsized impact on Vietnam's economy."
Int'l Business Times
5 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
'Big Comrade': Former Defence Chief Takes Reins As Thai PM
Thailand's former defence chief is set to be appointed acting prime minister on Thursday, capping a colourful career for the political heavyweight once nicknamed "Big Comrade". Phumtham Wechayachai earned his moniker over links in his youth to a 1970s student movement that rallied against the architect of a military coup, before their protests were violently crushed. He fled to the jungle where communist guerrillas were plotting uprisings against the nation's military, and recently he has been questioned over his associations. But the 71-year-old has successfully transitioned into the limelight from a business role in the empire of Thaksin Shinawatra, the founding force of a dynasty which has dominated Thai politics for decades. Phumtham has held the defence and commerce portfolios, and had a previous spell as acting prime minister after a crisis engulfed the top office last year. On Thursday he is due to be sworn in as deputy prime minister and interior minister -- making him acting premier again, after Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from her role. Born in the suburbs of Bangkok, Phumtham was nicknamed "Auan", meaning "Chubby", by his parents. He earned a political science degree from a top Thai university and joined the student movement that took to the streets in 1976, opposing the return of military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn. His childhood nickname belied his slim-faced appearance in a black-and-white photo of the protests, showing him brandishing speech papers with a microphone in hand. The uprising ended in a bloody crackdown known as the "Thammasat Massacre" that killed at least 40 students and remains today one of the country's most notorious instances of protest bloodshed. Unofficial estimates suggest the death toll could have been as high as 500, because live ammunition was used to quell the unrest. Students from Thailand's elite universities fled into the jungle to join guerilla movements. When Phumtham became defence minister last year he faced a grilling by the conservative and pro-military establishment who accused him of being a card-carrying communist. "I went to escape the violence," he insisted. "It was not only me, there were other students too." Despite his protestations, his links to the movement earned him a second alias: "Big Comrade". Phumtham's reputation has softened since his firebrand formative years, and he is now known as a composed and diplomatic operator. He will step into the acting prime minister role after the Constitutional Court suspended Paetongtarn pending an ethics probe which could take months. In the brief interim between the court decision and Phumtham being sworn in as part of a cabinet reshuffle, transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has been acting premier. Phumtham's rise has mirrored that of Thaksin, whose dynastic parties have been jousting with the country's pro-monarchy, pro-military establishment since the early 2000s. In the 1990s Phumtham was employed by the Thaksin-founded telecom giant Shin Corp, before entering politics full-time in 2001. He served as deputy secretary-general of the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, founded by Thaksin, and was appointed deputy transport minister in 2005. After Thaksin was ousted in a coup, the party was dissolved and Phumtham was slapped with a five-year ban from politics. But the movement remained a potent force, with Thaksin's sister and brother-in-law both having stints as prime minister. Paetongtarn was appointed in August, with the backing of the family's Pheu Thai party. Phumtham, considered Thaksin's confidant, appeared by Paetongtarn's side as she gave her first press conference as leader. Although he will be stepping into her shoes, he has signalled he remains loyal to the Shinawatra dynasty and told journalists he believes she will "survive the probe". Phumtham Wechayachai takes over as acting prime minister after Paetongtarn Shinawatra (C) was suspended from her role AFP In the 1990s Phumtham Wechayachai was employed by Thaksin-founded telecom giant Shin Corp, before entering politics full-time in 2001 AFP
