Ruling party ousts renegade MP Thammanat Prompao after tumultuous career

Thailand’s ruling Palang Pracharat Party has ousted the notorious Thai politician Thammanat Prompao who, apart from other alleged transgressions, was convicted conspiring to import heroin in Australia. He has also been accused of urging voters in a Songkhla bi-election to vote for someone “from a family with pedigree and wealth,” a statement his opponents in the party considered divisive. Palang Pracharat both both bi-elections in the south to the Democrats.

His statement was simply the latest scandal in Thammanat’s chaotic political career. Thai PBS detailed the MP’s controversial trajectory in politics today, starting with him first being elected as an MP, until this most recent scuffle with Palang Pracharat’s allies of the current PM.

The 56 year old began his political career in 1999 when he joined Thai Rak Thai, an opposition party to the conservative forces, but…