The Administrative Court has refused to adjudicate Dr. Sorn's case seeking to annul the selection committee's resolution that removed him from office due to disqualifying characteristics and lack of qualifications from the outset, stating he is not yet an aggrieved party because no royal command for his dismissal has been issued.
On 8 Aug 2026 GMT+7, it was reported that the Central Administrative Court ordered dismissal of the lawsuit filed by Dr. Sorn Boonbaichaiyapruck, chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), which he submitted on 3 August, seeking a ruling to annul the selection committee's resolution No. 1/2569 dated 21 July 2026 that declared him disqualified and possessing prohibited characteristics from the start of his tenure as NBTC chairman. He requested retroactive annulment as if the resolution had never existed.
The court explained its refusal to adjudicate by citing Section 18 of the Frequency Allocation and Regulation Act B.E. 2553 (2010), which requires that a Senate-approved committee member who still has disqualifying traits under Section 8(1), (2), or (3) must provide evidence of resignation or cessation of such profession to the Senate President within a specified timeframe before the Prime Minister submits the nomination for royal appointment. Failure to do so results in forfeiture of rights and a new selection process.
However, in this case, the selection committee—the defendant—found that Dr. Sorn possessed prohibited characteristics under Section 18 in conjunction with Section 8(2) of the Act after the royal appointment as NBTC chairman on 13 April 2022. Such removal under Section 20 paragraphs one (5) and two requires submission for royal command of dismissal. Therefore, at this stage, the plaintiff is not deemed aggrieved or unavoidably harmed by the defendant’s actions and thus lacks standing to sue under Section 42 paragraph one of the Administrative Court Act. Consequently, the court cannot accept the lawsuit for consideration and need not consider any interim relief requests.
The court therefore ordered dismissal of the case from the docket and refused to accept the lawsuit for consideration.
