Thai courts that have disbanded multiple governments are accused of setting back democracy

Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Wednesday’s decision by Thailand’s Constitutional Court to oust Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin after just under a year in office was jarring. But it was not entirely a surprise under what critics say is the expanding overreach of unelected bodies. Thais have long been accustomed to sudden changes of government due to military coups. But in the past two decades, they have increasingly seen such changes imposed by the courts, which have ousted four prime ministers and dissolved three election-winning political parties, often on narrow technical grounds. The targets mostly have been viewed as challengers to the royalist establishment. Critics say the court’s actions set back democracy in the constitutional monarchy.