If any of you have been following the news on Thailand, you may have noticed that the Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, has been relieved of his office and duties following a court verdict finding him in breach of the Constitution, which prevents ministers from being gainfully employed or earning revenue from a private enterprise.

In this particular case, the prime minister was found to have breached the Constitution for being paid to appear in a number of TV shows as the presenter.  Granted, he has been doing this for years - but upon taking office as Prime Minister, he should have relinquished his duties as a TV chef.

Clearly, he could have appeared as a chef, a dancer, a singer, or done any of a number of things in appearing on TV - as long as he did not get paid for his appearance.  But the prime minister, known for being brash and unspoken, believed that he could not be forced out of office for something as simple as his cooking show.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

It is ironic that the recent demonstrations and protests in Thailand had absolutely no bearing - he stubbornly refused to step down as prime minister, believing that it was his duty to protect democracy in Thailand.  Yet, although “democratically elected”, he was not favored by the people in the vote count, and he refused to listen to the demonstrators who were exercising their right and their voice to try and force him out of office.

Also ironic is the fact that he, like one of his Cabinet ministers, Chaiya Sasomsap, are not prohibited by the Constitution from holding public office even after being found in breach - so while Chaiya relinquished his position at the Health Ministry and was quickly reappointed as Commerce Minister, Samak could well be re-nominated as prime minister and be back in office as soon as a parliamentary vote is taken - possibly within a couple of days.

One thing is for sure - there is a glaring omission from the Constitution which Parliament needs to address quickly - a clause which bars any person who is disqualified from public office at any time from returning to public service within a certain period of time - probably five years, as that is the current standard for other violations such as vote-buying and other disqualifications from office.

In the meantime, Samak can stop moonlighting now and return to being a TV chef.