17 - The 1991–1992 Judicial Crisis

Summary

Thailand’s so-called 'judicial crisis' of 1991-92 centred on the controversial figure of Pramarn Chansue, and his tussles with the appointed government of Anand Panyarachun following the 1991 military coup. The then justice minister stood accused of political interference in the appointment of senior judges, in a pivotal episode in the recent history of the Thai judiciary. Pramarn eventually emerged triumphant from the crisis and became a very powerful supreme court president thereafter, but there were numerous sub-plots involved (including a dramatic attempted murder case featuring a famous architect), and the debacle led directly to the separation of the Office of the Judiciary from the Ministry of Justice a few years later. The chapter will use Thai language and interview sources to examine and analyse an episode that was hugely important, but has scarcely been dealt with academically by either Thai or international scholars.