Thai Courts Help Shape Political Landscape

BANGKOK, Sept. 28 -- The sight of 44 people, most of them current and former cabinet ministers, sitting in the dock of Thailand's Supreme Court last Friday reconfirmed for many just how large a role the legal system is now playing in the country.

The ministers represented almost the entire cabinet of populist former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed from power in a military coup in 2006. They have been charged with fraud for the role they played in approving a lottery in 2003.

Although the lottery case is perhaps the largest legal challenge to Thaksin's legacy, it is just one of many lawsuits reshaping Thailand's political landscape.

The last prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, who was seen by many as Thaksin's heir, was removed from office this month after the courts found him guilty of breaching the constitution by accepting a $2,300 payment to appear on a cooking show. Then, last week, an appeals court upheld a two-year sentence against Samak for libel.

In 2007, a court dissolved Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party and banned its officeholders from holding political positions after some of its senior members were found guilty of vote-buying.

Its successor, the People Power Party, which forms the current government, is widely expected to suffer the same fate when the Supreme Court hands down a decision on similar charges in a few months.

Thaksin faces more than 25 charges, and his wife has been sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion. They have both fled to Britain. He has said he will not return to face the courts because he believes the charges are politically motivated.

Some say the new cases show that the courts are no longer afraid to challenge influential politicians. Others, particularly Thaksin's supporters, say those charged are being unduly punished for crimes that are widespread here.

Many say the courts' frequent and enthusiastic interventions have reduced the incentive for politicians to work out their differences.

The International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based research organization, recently said the constitution drafted by the military government that removed Thaksin gave the courts "too much power to thwart and undermine an elected government for relatively minor failings."

"A balance needs to be struck between necessary checks on executive power and giving the government enough authority to avoid total paralysis," the group said.

But opponents of the current government want the role of the courts to be expanded. The People's Alliance for Democracy, whose members say representative democracy has failed in Thailand, this weekend called for an expansion of the court's powers.

They want the law changed so that any member of the public can bring corruption charges against officeholders, and they want the statute of limitations lifted for corruption charges.