The Constitutional Court ruled last Friday (1 August) to strip Pichet Chuanmuangphan, Pheu Thai MP and First Deputy House Speaker, of his MP position and ban him from political office for 10 years after finding him guilty of unlawfully influencing budget allocations.

The complaint was filed by a group of People’s Party MPs, who accused him of endorsing three House Secretariat projects with activities concentrated in his home constituency in Chiang Rai where he has a direct or indirect interest in the use of parliamentary funds.

The Court ruled 6 to 3 that he violated Section 144 of the 2017 Constitution because he was involved in pushing the projects, a continuation from last year, and that he used his position as both MP and Deputy House Speaker to influence budget decision. The Court determined that he would use budget in the same manner as 2024 to gain votes and build popularity for himself and his party.

Section 144, Clause 2 of the Constitution prohibits MPs, senators, or committee members from amending a motion or doing anything that gives them a direct or indirect interest in the use of national budget to prevent national budget from being diverted to home constituencies and affiliated area.

A by-election must now take place in Chiang Rai’s 7^th constituency within 45 days to find Pichet’s replacement. Parliament must also elect a new First Deputy House Speaker.

Pheu Thai MP Wisut Chainarun, chief government whip, said that the House will elect a new First Deputy House Speaker on Thursday (7 August). Parliament will debate the 2026 budget bill next week in a session which will take place over three days and according to Wisut, it will need both Deputy House Speakers to take turns overseeing the meeting.

Meanwhile, People’s Party MP Ratchanok Srinork posted on her Facebook page that she expects the party to face scrutiny for filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court while criticising it. She insisted that the party does not condone the use of independent bodies as a political tool for using lawfare to destroy political opponents. However, in the case against Pichet, she said that People’s Party MPs used an independent body’s investigation mechanism to tackle corruption.