Thailand court suspends Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha: A look at the country's turbulent politics

Bangkok: Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Wednesday while it hears a case that could see the former general removed from office.

Following the court’s decision, here is a brief look at the past two turbulent decades in Thai politics.

‘Lost Decade’

2001 - Policeman-turned-billionaire telecom magnate Thaksin Shinawatra wins at the polls promising social welfare schemes.

2005 - Thaksin repeats his electoral triumph, heading up the first civilian administration to complete a four-year term in a history rattled by army takeovers.

2006 - While at the UN in New York, Thaksin is toppled in a bloodless coup. A period of protests and violent clashes ensues, with historians dubbing the prolonged instability the “Lost Decade”.

Yellow and Red

2008 - Thaksin is convicted in absentia on corruption charges he says are politically motivated and flees into self-exile.

Anti-Thaksin protesters known as “Yellow Shirts” storm Bangkok’s airports, shutting them down for over a week to protest a Thaksin ally serving as premier — who is soon removed.

2010 - More than 90 people are killed as army forces commanded by Prayut opened fire on pro-Thaksin “Red Shirts” protesting in downtown Bangkok.

2011 - Thaksin’s younger sister Yingluck is elected as Thailand’s first female prime minister.

2014 - Month-long anti-Yingluck protests turn violent. A snap 2014 election is annulled and the military — led by Prayut — seizes power.

Reform and delays

2016 - Prayut oversees a crackdown on dissent and wins a referendum to change the constitution.

Thailand mourns the death of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was seen as a figure of unity over a seven-decade reign.

2017 - Yingluck flees the country to avoid negligence charges and joins her brother in self-exile.

Prayut’s government oversees the drafting of a new constitution that restricts leaders to eight-year terms.

2018 - Elections are announced for 2019 after repeated delays, lifting hopes as new parties emerge.

2019 - Main Opposition party Pheu Thai wins the most seats in a delayed and controversial election, but Prayut’s Palang Pracharath Party cobbles a coalition government, with the ex-general remaining PM.

Protests, pandemic

2020 - The Future Forward Party is dissolved.

Youth-led pro-democracy rallies spring up in Bangkok, attracting tens of thousands of people at their peak.

The movement calls for Prayut’s resignation and a rewrite of the military-scripted constitution.

The protesters also break a long-held taboo by calling for reform in Thailand’s monarchy —which is protected from criticism by harsh royal defamation laws that can see perpetrators jailed for up to 15 years per charge.

Scores of student leaders are arrested and yo-yo in and out of jail.

2021 - Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and the arrest of many protest leaders take the steam out of the protest movement.

Arrests and anticipation

May 2022 - Former Yingluck Shinawatra government minister Chadchart Sittipunt wins a landslide victory in the Bangkok governor election, spooking elites.

August 2022 - Prayut faces a legal challenge to his rule, with the kingdom’s Constitutional Court agreeing to rule on whether he has reached his term limit as PM.

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