“When we see men of a contrary character,” Confucius once wrote, “we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.” In the wake of the Constitutional Court ruling that former prime minister Srettha Thavisin committed an ethics violation and should be removed from office, it appears that advice along the lines of Confucius’ is being taken to heart by entire political parties in Thailand.

The Srettha case is without modern precedent in Thai politics. According to Section 160 of the 2017 Constitution, a cabinet minister must “be of evident integrity” and “not have behavior which is a serious violation of or failure to comply with ethical standards.” These are new requirements. The previous 2007 Constitution, for example, had listed a variety of necessary qualifications, but nothing so broad as this.

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