The Shinawatra dynasty is back in power in Thailand — or that, at least, is how it appears after Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, took over as prime minister this week. But while his daughter’s accession means that Thaksin — who was deposed by a military coup in 2006 and lived in exile until last year — has his hand on the tiller once again, the real lesson of this sorry saga is the ungovernability of Thailand under its current constitutional settlement, which is preventing urgently needed action to boost the economy.

Current events began with a 5-4 vote by Thailand’s constitutional court to throw out Srettha Thavisin, a pro-business populist, who had been prime minister for roughly a year. The grounds for Srettha’s dismissal were his appointment of an ineligible cabinet minister. It has been a busy month for the court. A week earlier, it ordered the disbanding of the Move Forward party, a liberal grouping which won the largest number of seats in Thailand’s last general election.

Srettha was the nominee of Thaksin’s political party, Pheu Thai, which is currently ruling in coalition with military-backed conservatives. After some behind-the-scenes manoeuvres, the conclusion was to preserve the coalition by making Paetongtarn the prime minister instead and, while it gives them power, it does not appear that Thaksin or his daughter sought this outcome. It is certainly not obvious why the Thai people should want a reluctant 38-year-old with almost no governing experience as their prime minister.