Berliner Tageszeitung - Thai veteran politician set for single day as acting PM

Transport minister and deputy prime minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit began his engagements by attending a ceremony in Bangkok celebrating the longevity of the prime minister's office.

The event marks the 93rd anniversary of an institution Suriya is set to command for far fewer than 93 hours as Thailand reels from the suspension of Paetongtarn, heiress of the country's dominant political dynasty.

The Constitutional Court said Tuesday there was "sufficient cause to suspect" she breached ministerial ethics during a diplomatic spat with Cambodia, suspending her pending a probe that could last months.

The 38-year-old Paetongtarn is the daughter of political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra, whose family and party have been jousting with Thailand's conservative establishment since the early 2000s.

Power immediately passed to 70-year-old Suriya, a veteran operator with a reputation in Thai media as a political weathervane for always aligning himself with the government of the day.

But his time as acting premier is set to be cut short by a cabinet reshuffle already scheduled before Tuesday's court bombshell.

When it takes effect in an oath-swearing ceremony scheduled on Thursday, Suriya is set to be superseded by incoming interior minister Phumtham Wechayachai.

The ruling Pheu Thai party said late Tuesday that Phumtham will take over after the cabinet reshuffle because he will receive a deputy prime minister title that is higher in the order of succession than Suriya.

- Waning influence -

Paetongtarn -- who became prime minister only last August -- assigned herself the culture minister position in the new cabinet before she was suspended, meaning she is set to keep a perch in the upper echelons of power.

But analysts say her pause from office represents a dramatic waning of the Shinawatras' influence.

Tuesday also saw the second day of Thaksin's criminal trial for royal defamation, in which he faces a possible 15-year sentence if convicted.

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 -- while her approval rating plunged and thousands mustered to protest over the weekend.

Conservative lawmakers accused her of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining the military, entering a case with the Constitutional Court alleging she breached the constitution's ministerial ethics code.

A. Bogdanow--BTZ