The move to permanently ban Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) MP Pareena Kraikupt from politics last week for encroaching on protected forest tracts in Ratchaburi has sparked a debate on whether the punishment was appropriate for the crime, as she has yet to be convicted by a criminal court of the allegation.
Despite the absence of a binding conviction, the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Position Holders banned her from participating in politics for life, saying she had violated the code of ethics by occupying parts of a forest reserve in Ratchaburi.
