After eight years in office, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha was suspended by a Thai court on Wednesday, deepening the kingdom’s authoritarianism and widening inequality.

The former army chief took control of the Country In a 2014 coup.

The constitutional court responded to a petition from the opposition calling for Prayuth to be suspended. This week, the former general reached his eight-year term limit stipulated in a new constitution he helped draft in 2017.
The suspension appears to have nullified a political agreement involving Prayuth, 68, who had pledged to run in general elections scheduled for early next year. Instead, his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, a former general and major power player in Thailand’s backroom politics, will serve as caretaker Prime Minster.

Prayuth, an army chief who has been battered by years of angry and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests, will be suspended immediately.

Many Thai social media users expressed delight at the news, which involved Prayuth, whom many blame for overseeing a loss of democracy, free expression, and a shrinking economy in favor of the establishment’s supporters in the palace and big business. Experts, on the other hand, were quick to warn of new dangers ahead.
Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, a constitutional law expert at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, stated that the injunction was only temporary. “At this point, nothing is certain.”We may not know the final decision for a month,” he said.

Thailand has yet to heal deep schisms between a ruling establishment centered on the monarchy, the military, and the business elite and a pro-democracy movement fueled by rural poor and working-class city dwellers.

Prayuth has repeatedly stated that he is a reluctant prime minister, called to office by duty to help heal Thailand’s political wounds, which have seen endless rounds of political violence and coups.
Despite massive pro-democracy demonstrations against his authoritarian rule, as well as increasing challenges from some erstwhile (former) parliamentary allies, he has refused to leave.

Thailand has also struggled to restore growth, which was once seen as a Southeast Asian model of development during his eight years in power.

The coronavirus pandemic, and now the global inflation crisis, have reduced Thai incomes and left the public fearful of what may come next.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, a key youth-oriented opposition group, has warned of a “political vacuum at a time when Thai people most need a strong leader.”

He claimed that the appointment of Prawit, a 77-year-old career ally of Prayuth, as acting prime minister does not end the country’s economic and political impasse.

“We need an agile, modern, and responsive leader,” he told reporters.”The court’s decision today to merely appoint an acting PM demonstrates that we continue to go in ‘Prayuth’ circles rather than addressing Thailand’s problem.”