In Thailand, Srettha Thavisin is the prime minister, but is he really in charge?

Srettha is neither the Pheu Thai leader nor an MP, and is currently at odds with the Bank of Thailand governor over the state of the economy
Thailand’s politicians and foreign leaders have preferred to turn to Thaksin Shinawatra, even though the 75-year-old is serving a jail term for corruption

Termsak Chalermpalanupap

Published: 11:00am, 10 Mar 2024

Why you can trust SCMP

How many prime ministers does Thailand have now? One, if you ask Srettha Thavisin.

In theory, the 62-year-old real estate tycoon is the prime minister. Nominally, he leads a government coalition of 11 parties with 314 MPs in Thailand’s 500-member House of Representatives. But whether he is actually fully or partially in charge is another matter altogether.

In practice, Srettha is neither an MP nor the leader of Pheu Thai, the chief party in the ruling coalition. He has confessed to knowing a few of the party’s 141 MPs. His familiarity with MPs from other government parties is almost non-existent.

During the few hectic weeks before the formation of his cabinet, Srettha was hardly at the bargaining table. He did not do the wheeling and dealing; rather, this was done by Pheu Thai bigwigs, notably Phumtham Wechayachai, who is now a deputy prime minister and minister of commerce; and Dr Prommin Lertsuridej, now the secretary general to the prime minister. Both Phumtham and Prommin have close ties to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Dr Prommin Lertsuridej, secretary general to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2023. Photo: Reuters

Undoubtedly, Phumtham and Prommin consulted and listened to Thaksin, even though the 75-year-old former leader is officially a criminal convict serving a one-year jail term for corruption. Thaksin is widely regarded as the actual “owner” of Pheu Thai.

In October 2023, Thaksin’s youngest daughter, Paetongtarn, was elected unopposed as the new Pheu Thai leader, even though the 36-year-old mother of two was a political greenhorn who had never been an MP.

One widespread rumour is about the imminent rise of Paetongtarn to the cabinet before Songkran (Thai New Year on April 13). Another rumour is that Srettha, who is concurrently the finance minister, will give up the finance portfolio because he has no time to handle it properly.

Srettha has been at odds with the governor of the Bank of Thailand, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, over the actual condition of the economy. Srettha insists that the Thai economy has been in a “crisis” and needs urgent stimulus via the “Digital Wallet”, a handout of 10,000 baht (US$280) in digital credits to every low-income Thai aged over 16. But bank governor Sethaput disagrees; he believes the Thai economy is recovering, and what is really needed is more investments to create jobs and increase exports.

People shop for footwear at the Srinakarin train night market in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 3. Photo: AFP

Srettha has practically bet his political future on the successful launch of the Digital Wallet programme, which requires about 500 billion baht (US$14 billion). He has considered off-budget extraordinary borrowing. But the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the State Council Office have cautioned against rushing to the House with such a questionable bill, for fear of violating existing laws on fiscal discipline.

The latest official figures show that the Thai economy grew by 1.9 per cent in 2023, with 1.7 per cent growth in the fourth quarter, a slight improvement from 1.4 per cent in the third quarter. In other words, the Thai economy is not in a “crisis” as yet. Therefore, there is no legal justification for the urgent borrowing to stimulate consumption spending. Resorting to such extraordinary borrowing is also not in line with Pheu Thai’s May 2023 election campaign promise not to borrow new public money to fund the Digital Wallet scheme.

Should the Digital Wallet fail to materialise, Srettha will be held responsible. At any rate, it has been argued previously that the proposed scheme was never intended to stimulate the economy but serves as a “political tool” to revive Pheu Thai’s image and secure the Thai prime minister’s popular standing.

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Don Muang airport in Bangkok in August 2023. Photo: AP

Srettha’s fate cannot be discussed without discussing the fate of Thaksin. On February 18, Thaksin was released on parole after 180 days in a police hospital, undergoing undisclosed treatments in a premium suite off limits to all outsiders. He is now serving the rest of his one-year jail term at home.

Thaksin’s first foreign VIP guest was none other than Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen, who dropped by on February 21 for a quick lunch with Thaksin. The Cambodian strongman left after lunch without calling on Prime Minister Srettha. Apparently, Hun Sen knows who to talk to in Thailand to get what he wants.

Hun Sen, in his capacity as the chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party, invited Paetongtarn, leader of Pheu Thai, to visit Cambodia in March. Paetongtarn has accepted the invitation and is scheduled to lead a Pheu Thai team to meet Hun Sen in Phnom Penh from March 18 to 19.

Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen during his meeting with Thailand’s former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, in a location given as Bangkok, Thailand, in February. Photo: Hun Sen via Facebook/Handout via Reuters

Nevertheless, Thaksin is not out of the woods yet. He is still facing two criminal charges of insulting the previous monarch, King Bhumibol, in a media interview in Seoul on May 21, 2015. In addition to violating the lèse-majesté law under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which carries a jail term ranging from three to 15 years, Thaksin has also been accused of violating the Computer Law of 2017 by causing fake news to circulate on social media from his interview in Seoul. The maximum penalties under this law include a jail term of up to 20 years.

On February 19, Thaksin denied any wrongdoing when he met a senior prosecutor to discuss the case. A new decision on how to proceed with the case against Thaksin will be made by the attorney general, and it is scheduled to be announced on April 10.

In late 2015, a different attorney general put on record his official view that the case should be prosecuted. This was pending the arrest of Thaksin who was then in exile, living mostly in Dubai.

Thailand’s ex-PM Thaksin weak but ‘happy to be home’ after detention release

This is not the first time Thaksin has been accused of violating the lèse-majesté law. Several similar cases against him have all been dismissed in the past owing to lack of evidence.

If the case against him now is dropped like before, Thaksin can start counting the days until he legally regains his freedom in the third week of August.

In the meantime, Thaksin will be kept quite busy receiving visitors lobbying for better positions in a new cabinet line-up. Thai politicians know who is actually in charge.

Termsak Chalermpalanupap is a Visiting Senior Fellow and Acting Coordinator of the Thailand Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. This commentary was first published on ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s commentary website fulcrum.sg.

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